FIRE Are you prepared?

[Zetetic]

So far we have

• smoke alarms which are wired into mains electricity (with a battery backup that beeps if it runs out - which always seems to be at 3am in the morning).

• a roll up fire ladder (we have three stories)

• I drive the family mad by assessing fire exits in any hotel / b&b / self catering place. I once found a locked fire door at a hotel!

• fire extinguisher / fire blanket in kitchen

www.ddfire.gov.uk/winter-safety-advice

I have the same alarms as you. I think I do need to get ladders, we have a four storey house. I struggle with the idea of climbing down them as I have a massive fear of heights.

Had a fire safety inspection (our local force provide them free), actually bought proper fire extiguishers for two of the three stories and a fire blanket for the kitchen and got rid of any non-conforming adapters. (I thought the Senior Fire Officer would have a conniption when he saw one lying around so I had to promise to junk it immediately.)

(They seemed to be most concerned about electricity, candles and fat fryers of various descriptions.)

I also decded on a Fire Plan for evacuation. The Fire Brigade didn't actually seem to be that interested in its details, just content that we'd thought the thing through.

Human behaviour during fires or fire alarms is really fascinating.

www.apa.org/monitor/sep04/fighting.aspx

I've witnessed it myself in a shopping centre. A fire alarm went off and evryone carried on shopping!

Oh - and a range of small things that were just on the general check list for safety. I pressured the power company into fitting a new step-down transformer from the street supply to the house supply (Sorry - I forget the technical name for it) because the one we had was the original and - because of its location - I could see that it was actually dripping some bitumen insulation stuff. (And put in a new consumer box at the same time.) We also have a practice, after seeing the horror stories, of not buying cheap chargers and of switching the ones we have off overnight/if we're leaving the house for a while.

If I seem to be obsessed with electrical safety, it's because the building two along from us in our old house went up one night. It was completely razed and we were on evacuation standby from the Fire Brigade. A darned close run thing which was only saved because of a favourable wind and some light rain.

That building was only 10 years old and went up due to faulty electrics.

Cripes, that's scary. I might get an assessment done here. We do use cheap phone chargers get your act together Apple, but they are only used when in sight, and always unplugged when not in use.

If you have teenagers did you know that fires can be started by a phone charger under a pillow? (yes mini Zetetic I'm talking about you) Also laptops on beds and hair straighteners.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/03/24/fire-which-killed-three-children-started-by-mobile-phone-charger_n_7392546.html

My normally taciturn electrician can become quite emotional and voluble on the subject of adapters-on-adapters-on-adapters in the bedrooms of houses, built within living memory, where bedrooms only had - say - two single sockets and with many youngsters now virtually living in their rooms and plugging a multitude of devices into inadequate supply.

It's like most things - thinking about them is the main part and then you just do what you can. If you can't do anything for various reasons, so be it, but at least you've thought it through and know the issues.

I have a fire ladder, I had a fire extinguisher, I don't know what happened to it. I knew about chargers. I don't deep fat fry, I don't smoke and don't use candles, they are just for power cuts.

There's actually a school of thought, how, that fire extinguishers can be a bad thing unless you've been trained in them (I have but it's expensive) because incorrect use of some types can lead to personal damage; and they can also cause complacency/delay in calling in the professionals/ delay in getting out etc etc.

When they came to my house, the fire brigade weren't in the least concerned about extinguishers but they were exercised about working smoke and CO alarms and their correct placement. I think their attitude was more of a 'Get yourself as safe as you can and then contact us to deal with it'.

I'd ensure that you have a way of keeping yourself and family as safe as possible and maybe a charged mobile with you at night if you don't have a completely secure and easily accessible phone line. I think personal safety is your first priority.

No I don't feel prepared. Our upstairs windows don't open all the way, so I don't think we would be able to get out in the event of fire. They have some mechanism, I think, to prevent them opening more than about half way.

I'd like to get fire ladders, too. Does anyone have any recommendations for decent inexpensive ones?

Yes, the DDs are banned from using chargers whilst in bed, when the extension is done I'm going to insist that all phones are left in there for overnight charging - it will be separate from the rest of the house, with only one bedroom over. It should go some way to protecting the stairs if one catches and we need to get out

I have inter-connected smoke alarms, a ladder and extinguishers on all floors.

I also hang out with Fire Fighters at work and have used a fire extinguisher several times. Top tips; remember they need to have pins, tags and so on removed; they are a lot harder to operate than you think, you really have to squeeze.

The Fire Fighters impress on people that you should only use one if the door is to your back, if the fire is very small, if someone already knows the Fire Fighters are called and on the way and someone knows where you are.

Using one for real is certainly an experience - as I see you'll know. I'd guess that the overwhelming majority of the population have never even held one or realize just how heavy they mostly are!

Hi prepared types. Fire is terrifying. I came on to recommend the fire service safety visit too. I had it and they gave good advice and state of the art alarms at no cost! Family member ( we all live in two streets, her in my street ) had a serious arson attack on her house. They torched her front door while she and her baby slept. Whole bottom floor was engulfed in minutes. Broke her arm nearly holding baby out of the window to breathe but the fire service said what she did was right. Call them, get in a room furthest from the fire and place something under the door to block smoke and hang out of the window and await rescue. I thought you should attempt escape but they said most die from smoke trying. We now know to keep a charged phone upstairs and do this if the alarms sound immediately.

We have smoke alarms and carbon monoxide arms throughout the house. We also have a fire extinguisher next to the wood burner, one in the kitchen (plus a fire blanket) and one in the garage next to the furnace (although if that thing went up you'd be done for). I remember being trained on operating the fire extinguishers at university when I lived in halls but that was quite some time ago....

We have balconies upstairs at each end of the house and DS2's bedroom window opens out onto a flat roof and so escape would hopefully be relatively easy but I am still going to get a ladder just in case for DS1's room at the front of the house which has concrete below.

I shall never forget having a house fire when I was about 12. I went into the kitchen and it was ablaze (hot fat in an oven left on by mistake). Went to tell my parents in the living room and they called the fire brigade and sent me up to bed!! In the bedroom above the kitchen!! It was most bizarre. Fortunately the only casualty was the hamster.

If you can escape then do obviously stuck on the 2nd floor then they say don't. It is scary to think about but I'm glad we did the safety visit. Watching that fire was awful. We couldn't help her just watch. Fire service were amazing. Ladder up and baby out in under a minute. The mum kind of gave up then but the fire fighters got in and she said she just felt something hit her face. Breathing apparatus. She was out fairly fast after that. I am definitely following their advice. Baby was utterly nonplussed by the experience btw.

We have smoke alarms and I now keep my phone by my bed in case I need to ring for help. The sling is kept in our bedroom to help evacuate with toddler.

But i feel that maybe we're not well equipped enough.

Do you need fire blankets if oven.hobs etc. are electric? We don't have gas.

I want a fire ladder because we live on the third floor but they are really expensive and I'm not sure they'd be long enough... We have tiny balconies (big enough for two people standing) which we'd crowd onto.

We have two possible exits - main door and the door from the kitchen (former servants door) which leads onto concrete stairs so hopefully safer.

Well I think fire blankets are for smothering fire no matter what the hob type but the fire brigade seems to recommend getting out and calling them.

www.cambsfire.gov.uk/firesafety/1586.php

There are various companies that do fire escape ladders for third floors (example below) but they are quite expensive. I have not actually used it but have been down similar narrow ladders in caving systems and they are not for the faint hearted! But I suppose if a raging fire lay the other direction you would use it....

www.fireescapeladders.co.uk/browse/fire-escape-ladders/portable-escape-ladders/

My two older dc's have both had a fire at university this term (not their accommodation luckily).

The first one was when a student left a pan of oil. www.westerndailypress.co.uk/120-Bristol-University-students-evacuated-major-4/story-27968127-detail/story.html

The second was a simple piece of toast left stuck in a toaster that caught light and then spread - gutted an entire kitchen / students moved out of flat due to extensive smoke damage.

Wow
I do need to get something then!

Although this reminds me of a funny story from this summer.

We were in a holiday home and we set off the fire alarm whilst cooking (from smoke - no fire!). I did what my mum always did which was open a window and wave a tea towel in front of the alarm to stop it.

The next day the alarm went off again so I did the same. Until DH pointed out that it wasn't the alarm, it was the oven timer going off

Where is the best place for smoke alarms right by the log burners?
We have them there atm.

Fire extinguishers better near you or near the likely fire? Ours or near the fires but I'm not sure, if they are for escape surely better they are near me but if to fight fire better near the fire.

Don't know about smoke alarms by log burners. Wouldn't they go off all the time? Ours are in the hall and landings. We do have a carbon monoxide alarm up high near the log burner. It used to be on a low shelf but the chimney sweep told us off and said cm fumes rise.

All the fire stuff I've read seems to suggest it is better to have the fire extinguisher near escape route & if in doubt get out fast.

Ours are on the hall ceilings on each level - but here's a link for you, winchester. (UK derived I'm afraid.)