NFPW: Fire Won’t Wait. Plan Your Escape

Minnesota — As we continue our coverage of National Fire Prevention Week, today we focus on this year’s theme which is “Fire Won’t Wait. Plan Your Escape.” Today’s homes burn faster than ever. You may have as little as two minutes (or even less time) to safely escape a home fire from the time the smoke alarm sounds. Your ability to get out of a home during a fire depends on early warning from smoke alarms and advance planning. Gary Fire Chief Buck Engen says there are a number of variables that could come up when trying to escape, so its important to discuss those and practice each scenario.

As Engen alluded to, in order to escape you must first be alerted, so a good working smoke detector is a must. Several area fire departments have recently teamed up with the Red Cross to provide and install free smoke detectors to those who don’t have them. Included in that is the Hitterdal Fire Department. Chief Brian Nelson says they’ll come to your home and install them free of charge.

The Twin Lakes Fire Department is also participating in the free smoke detector program with the Red Cross. Fire Chief Ed Snetsinger says not only this a great outreach event for the department, but this program has been proven to save lives in recent years.

Smoke alarms sense smoke well before you can, alerting you to danger. Smoke alarms need to be in every bedroom, outside of the sleeping areas (like a hallway), and on each level (including the basement) of your home. Do not put smoke alarms in your kitchen or bathrooms.

Choose an alarm that is listed with a testing laboratory, meaning it has met certain standards for protection.

For the best protection, use combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms that are interconnected throughout the home. These can be installed by a qualified electrician, so that when one sounds, they all sound. This ensures you can hear the alarm no matter where in your home the alarm originates.