How would someone escape in a fire from your loft room?

[Thethingswedoforlove]

Does anyone have one of those ladders you could use in an emergency? Dd1 has recently moved up there (she is nearly 16). She is happy but worried re fire safety and I must say I am too. Anyone got any recommendations?

I guess the same as anyone living above the second storey - you have fire doors that should keep out the fire until you are rescued. But those rope and steel ladders might be a good idea. - my almost 16 year old daughter will also be occupying the loft.

When we converted our loft we put in a flight of stairs, not a ladder. That said, our daughter is still two flights up. From the middle floor we can escape onto a flat roof and then onto the lawn. All our doors are fire doors.

Yes @Changingwiththetimeswe have fire doors. But we know they aren’t always enough. I wondered if anyone had a fire ladder they might recommend? It’s a good space for the teens, isn’t it?

@mdh2020 we have a flight of stairs! This is in case the stairs are inaccessible in the situation of a fire and she needs to escape via a different route. We have all the relevant fire doors etc. But there isn’t a flat roof etc available for her to use. I know some people do buy the temporary ladders you can throw out of the window. I wondered if anyone had any tips or recommendations.

I also have this worry as my 14 yr old is now in a 3rd floor bedroom. There's a sloped roof and I've put a fire extinguisher up there, but none of these are going to be much use in a fire.

Do you have wired in heat and fire alarms? Together with the fire door, which must be shut (obvs) they should be enough to escape down the stairs.

We have a metal rope type ladder and a high attic with a large overhang.

I'd have to be absolutely desperate to even contemplate using it and I have no idea how I'd even get out of the tiny sash window which obviously doesn't open very far.

It sits in a box under the window, fixed in place.

@Beebumble2 yes we do have wired in alarms. I hope you are right!
@BigPyjamas thank you for the info. Yes I imagine these are true life or death circumstances. I didn’t know the ladder stays in place permanently. Interesting.

@Stoptalkingtome good idea re a fire extinguisher

My cousin has a spare room in the loft with an emergency ladder in a box fitted below the window, something like one of these:
www.fireprotectiononline.co.uk/7.5m-fire-escape-ladder.html

Of course it's never been used but I imagine would work well, it's not an obtrusive box but reassuring to know it is there.

Thank you @Ariela

I am learning lots about this as a result of this post so I am sure that is the right way forwards.

Call your local fire brigade and talk to them - ours told me a ladder would be super dodgy and they would turn up in time!

ours told me a ladder would be super dodgy and they would turn up in time!

Not a risk I would take, this horrific story had me thoroughly thinking about evacuation in the event of a house fire.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-56201654.amp

I used to be in a loft room and had a large roof window which could kind of flip back and make the windowsill into a ledge outside you could stand on to be rescued from. We also had to have fire doors on all the stair facing doors and automatic closers to keep the doors shut.

@DonGray we are physically located a stone’s throw from the fire station so that is a good reminder....

We have a ladder. It sits in its box under the bed and is apparently easy to hook over the window if needed. It’s single use (folded to release quickly), so no idea whether it actually works. Hopefully we’ll never find out, but i wouldn’t be happy with people sleeping up there without one.

@DonGray

Call your local fire brigade and talk to them - ours told me a ladder would be super dodgy and they would turn up in time!

This. Ours said the same.

They were actually out to do a safety check because of the oxygen tank I had in the house for my planned home birth and I took the opportunity to ask a load of questions.

Shut the door, seal it with wet towels if you can and when you call them tell them what rooms are occupied. They will come for you.

We have the ladder, a fire extinguisher and a smoke hood so as long as the flames aren't actually at the bedroom door, you can (in theory) run down to the first floor where escape is easier.

I think the most important thing is to have a plan of what to do if the fire alarm/smoke detector is triggered.

I wonder if many young children die of smoke inhalation in a house fire as their bedroom doors are open at night.

As others have mentioned, contact your local fire service. This what my local one offers
www.surreycc.gov.uk/people-and-community/fire-and-rescue/home-safety/advice/safe-and-well
They’ll come round and give you free advice. I did make them a cuppa and offered biscuits in return.

I looked into these when I lived in a three story house and decided that they would be impossible to use. It depends on how the window opens. Most of them are single use so you can't even have a go to see how they work.

Buy two, try one?

@Idontlikethatnameanymore That’s a great idea, thanks for sharing the link. I’ll save the link for once restrictions are lifted. Is it an actual fireman that comes over? 😂 I’ve got a toddler who is obsessed with fireman Sam lol

It is real firefighter ,or two in uniform. In my imagination they turned up in their fire engine but that might have been when they came to school for the summer fete😆
It was about 10 years ago now but I remember having the same worries about our loft bedroom, and our rather strange house layout. I’ve also just remembered they fitted some additional smoke detectors.
I was pleased to see our local service still offers this check. Also, if any lurkers are here they are particularly keen to identify higher risk households such as older people, hoarders and those on home oxygen.

@Idontlikethatnameanymore amazing, thank you 😊