Home Fire Escape Planning
Why Planning Matters
If a fire breaks out in your home, you may have only two to three minutes to get outside safely once the smoke alarm sounds. Everyone needs to know exactly what to do and where to go. According to the National Fire Protection Association, only one out of every three households has developed and practiced a home fire escape plan.
Create Your Plan
- Start by mapping out your home.
- Identify two ways out of every room, such as a door and a window.
- Pick a meeting place outside where everyone can gather once they’re safely out (a tree, mailbox, or light pole works well).
- Make sure all escape routes are clear and that windows open easily.
Practice Regularly
- Run a home fire drill at least twice a year, during the day and at night.
- Start from different rooms to practice multiple scenarios.
- Move quickly but calmly during each drill.
- Include everyone in the household, including children and older adults.
- Aim for everyone to reach the designated meeting place in under two minute
Planning ahead can save lives
Watch this video to learn how to map out exits, choose a meeting place, and practice your family’s escape plan.
home fire escape plan
Create and practice your family’s home fire escape plan. Use this printable worksheet to draw your home layout, identify two exits from every room, and choose a safe outdoor meeting place.
key facts to remember
- Close doors to slow fire: Keeping bedroom doors closed while sleeping helps slow the spread of smoke and heat, giving you more time to escape.
- Install smoke alarms inside every bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of your home.
- Interconnect your smoke alarms so that when one sounds, they all sound.
- Fires become life-threatening in minutes, and most people overestimate how long they have to escape.
- Only about half of households with a fire escape plan have ever practiced it.