More specifically, could you get everyone out of the house, blindfolded, in under a minute?

[Nimbostratus100]

Following on from the emergency thread... (yes I have let the police in without the washing up being done in the past - no - no one cared...)

If your house was filled with smoke, and you couldn't see or breathe in - could you get out?

This mostly means, can you put your hand on the door or window key right now, with your eyes closed, and does everyone know where to meet up?

( lives have been lost when everyone is safely out, but someone is missing and a relative returns to a burning building to look for them, not knowing they were already safe)

I think this is important - if you have to get out of the house blind, before you next breathe in - do you have an emergency key in a fixed place you can put your hand straight on now without thinking?

Yes. Key in the front door all the time, straight downstairs and out the front door. If the front door is blocked by fire then it's out the back bedroom onto the kitchen roof.
We had our loft ( 2nd floor)converted into a bedroom 18 years ago when my kids were a lot younger-6 & 2-and were initially going to put our son in there whilst we had the large bedroom on the first floor.Then someone pointed out to me that,if we had a fire at night we would have to go up the loft stairs,grab our son comeback down, grab our daughter, then go down more stairs to get out.So we had the loft room instead.
However, we taught our children from a very young age- and regularly reminded them- that if they heard the smoke alarm going off then they were NOT to come looking for us, no matter how scared they were- we would ( hopefully) get ourselves out-but to go straight downstairs, out the front door and to our neighbours house. A fireman on TV once said that the best chance of survival is to have an evacuation plan.

Apologies, have been out.

Keep your smoke / heat alarms current; check the torches; fire extinguishers on each floor - there are ‘general’ ones which are safe for electrical fires too.

Keep a phone in main bedroom to call 999

if he had his way I’d have an escape ladder and aircraft emergency lights on the stairs, but I cannot imagine getting a Labrador down a ladder.

Then they break a window.

With a residential multi-point lock you are more likely to have a handle on the inside that releases the bolts without the need for a key.

The thumb turn is just a safer mechanism for operating and releasing a lock. It doesn't affect the safety or security of the cylinder at all. If you install a 3 cylinder (or 1 + 2* protective hardware) it will be bump, snap etc resistant, regardless of the operating mechanism on the inside.

I'll post this again, your 5 point lock isn't the big secure lock you think it is, my joiner DP can remove the entire unit in a minute as can anyone who knows what they're doing. If they want in they're getting in.
I work in the community and am
shocked daily on the amount of
ppl who have to hunt for keys, trek
to their kitchen just to open a front door.
What's the point of protecting a car/ house so you can die of smoke inhalation 🤷🏼‍♀️

I used to work in emergency planning and remember a fire officers point that you should always think escape route wherever you are. He said the first thing he did when he checked into a hotel was look at the evacuation route and walk it. As he said better do it then than at 2 a.m. in a smoke filled corridor. I did that in a hotel in Manchester and found that the green escape route sign had been installed upside down which led to a dead end. The receptionist was a bit surprised when I pointed this out.

I have an escape route from every room over three stories: wide opening windows, drop to porch front of house, drop to kitchen back of house, drop to tiered garden from loft.

That would make burglars a bit of a risk but they'd be very visible, especially since I love to have windows open. But I have no obvious wealth and ... alert and energetic ... neighbours, so I suspect that's unlikely. It's the payoff I'd choose though. Hate being locked in.

People I know have been blacklisted on trip advisor for posting reviews of hotels that have poor / illegal fire precautions. It’s a scandal.

@OnaBegonia I’m puzzled why a joiner would be dealing with upvc doors?

If we were in bed like now, back door is nearest and has a turn lock - no key required. Or we could drop from edge of 1st floor balcony in next room without serious damage. Front door keys in a pot in the entry hall, spare in my handbag if I couldn't locate them, though I think I could. In the day there is often one set in the door and another in the pot. Cats are another issue, but they always seem desperate to escape, so would come running when they heard the door open!

My front and back doors have a twisty lock attachment mechanism which means you don’t need a key to open from the inside. You simply turn and doors open.

Windows don’t have keys - simply twist lever to open. All open fully inwards to allow entry/exit.

All of my internal doors are special fire resistant doors.

House is clutter free - we could all easily escape in under a minute if required.

Appliances like dishwasher/ washing machine etc are never run unless we are awake and staying home.

We have CO2 monitors, heat detectors and interlinked hard wired smoke detectors with battery backups installed.

My dad used to be a firefighter so I’m very conscious of fire safety.

Yes. We're in a 3rd floor flat but the 2nd floor extends out further so there's flat roof under all 3 of our windows, one with access to the fire escape and one into the raised garden. We don't lock the windows with keys. Front door is a latch and fire escape is about 10 strides down the corridor then a left turn.

We considered putting the cat's travel box in our storage room recently but decided to keep it in the wardrobe for emergencies. Worst case scenario we'd just put him out the window and hope & pray to find him later.

My doors don't need a key to unlock them from the inside, you just push the door handle down.
All my windows have the keys in the locks permanently and all the windows are side opening.
I refuse to have top opening windows for fire reasons.
But yes, hopefully everyone would be able to get out as all the interior doors open into the hallway where the front door is.
I live in a bungalow, so if anyone had to leave via a window, at least they wouldn't harm themselves getting to the ground.

To those who love a good fire extinguisher… check out P50. One canister does every job (bar an oil pan obvs!).

How the hell would I blindfold 4 cats, never mind lead them anywhere?

I think by the time I went upstairs to get my kids and back down it would be well over a minute

Yes, we have 6 door that lead to outside.

@BitOutOfPractice
Would you rather be locked out/trapped whilst a joiner stands by? a lock is a lock whether it's in wood or upvc, do you never add anything to your skill set?

I clicked on this thread thinking it was one of those wedding games where you “kidnap” the bride or groom or what have you, to take them to a party. Blindfolding everyone in under a minute sounded fun.

Instead, I’ve spent the last 20 minutes reading the most important safety information I could hope for. Off to check the route now!

@OnaBegonia what an odd reply! Not my point at all.

@BitOutOfPractice
hardly odd when you asked an odd question 🤷🏼‍♀️ always amazed that ppl odd questions as their sole takeaway from a thread.

erm, if you read back @OnaBegonia I have contributed extensively on this thread with what I hope was useful information that I know as part of my job. So no, your strange answer about “learning new skills” was not my only take away from this thread.

I was just a bit puzzled why you kept emphasising that your dh is a joiner then describing his work with upvc. That’s all.

Can I ask about people who leave keys in doors? I have windows on my doors
Isn't it a burglary hazard?
We have keys on hooks right by both doors

If a burglars chosen to target your house they're coming in whether you make it easy or not

@BitOutOfPractice
I was trying to point out that the upvc locks are not as secure as ppl think, better to state he's a joiner and not a burglar 🤣