What Would You Grab In a Fire?

I was lucky. The apartment building where my children were born in had smoke detectors so sensitive that we all got to practice fire drills often over the first months living there.

Typically, it was just someone leaving food on the stove too long.

We got so good, that when the real fire came a year later, practice made perfect.

We had already agreed with the kids on a rally point; where to go once you're out of the house and where everyone meets.

So, what did we take?

1. Keys
2. Wallet / Purse
3. Mobile Phone
4. Office laptop bag
5. Document bag (with IDs)

Truth is, one through three is really the best you can hope for, without practice. One through three are typically together if not on your person, which helps.

Four and five, everyone knew to grab based on our practices, if they hadn't been grabbed already. Also, five can fit into four, and four can be carried over the shoulder and across the chest, leaving hands free.

Designate a household fire marshal, who is the last to leave and makes sure everyone is out, and makes sure everyone is at the rally point. By my rough estimate from our practices, every adult had no more than 30 seconds, and every child no more than one minute. Add all the minutes, and that's how long from the time the alarm blares, until everyone must be out of the house; maximum. Once that time it reached, the fire marshal moves anyone remaining out of the house and leaves for the rally point.

There are sites and pamphlets on fire safety, but my impression is that if they are ever read, their contents are seldom practiced.

Again, do practice, and make sure your kids know the drill. Every alarm is different, and you never know which one will be the one. You may have more, or less time than you think. It's all theory until the $#!+ hits the fan. Then, it's what you practiced that counts.

image from commons.wikimedia.org