How do you prepare for a home fire ?

[Timo Turl]

I'm well prepared to deal with intruders & zombies but know next to nothing when it comes to preparing my home against a potential fire. What have you done to prepare yours and to protect your family ?

Couple of specific questions I have that I could do with some help on:

1. I have working smoke detectors but want to buy a few fire extinguishers. Should I go for the foam, gas or is there another type I should consider ? Does one type work well in the bedroom, kitchen and say garage or are they task specific ie fuel, electric etc ?

2. If my front door is blocked my next best escape route is probably over a neighbours balcony and hopefully in through his balcony doors (he hates guns so no chance of being shot !). What tool and technique works best if trying to break through double/triple glazing in a hurry ? I have young kids to take with my so carrying a massive sledge hammer isn't going to be easy.

Any other suggestions, tips or thoughts would be great. Thx

 

[JXT71]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

Extinguishers are task-specific. The typical house extinguisher would be a multipurpose ABC Dry chemical. It'd work on paper, wood, carpet, plastic, grease, and electrical fires. If you can't put a fire out with your own extinguisher you should be on your way out the door. More info, here's a link, mute your speakers: FireExtinguisher.com

As for your alternate escape route, test it to see how it works

Seems sketchy, and probably unreliable. Have you talked to your neighbor about that? If you need to bust out some windows it'd be best if it was ground level and led outside and away from the building, not into the building next door. You have kids with you, so the less exposure to broken glass the better.

A call to your local fire dept for more info/tips could never hurt.

 

[Slapchop]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

Implement a plan, discuss it with your family and practice it your plan. Not sure how high up you are but that balcony thing might be better off as a last resort. Especially if the balconies aren't connected. Either way, I would talk to your neighbor before you go smashing his door in.

As far as fire extinguishers go CLICK HERE. There is plenty of information on fire extinguishers and a slew of other things on the site.

Good luck.

 

[Truck10]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

#1. Have working, and properly placed smoke detectors.

#2. Develop a plan of escape with your family and practice in zero visibly, meaning turn the lights out. Once you are out create a meeting spot and stay OUT.

#3. Do NOT attempt to extinguish any kind of advanced fire, you will loose the battle!!

For small fires an ABC will work fine on common combustibles and electrical as well as a grease fueled fires in the kitchen.

 

[Icallem]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

This is something different, but something that needs to be done prior to a fire is to video tape your house and its contents. We had an insurance adjusting business and one of the biggest problems we would see, were people trying to make a list of what they had. The insurance company is not your friend, so the more proof you have, the better.

 

[cavscout1983]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

Buy a house next to the fire station.

 

[JCH]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

don't overlook carbon monoxide detectors...that is just as dangerous as a fire.

 

[Timo Turl]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

some great suggestions. thank you

 

[steelman303]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

smoke / CO detectors on both floors, hardwired with battery back up & linked together. one goes off, they both go off.
Back up smoke detectors through security system (courtesy of Brinks)
commercial fire extinguishers (courtesy of work) in upstairs hall closet (right outside of master bedroom door), kitchen, & garage.
Evac plan in place (practiced) to get kids out of house with common meeting place in neighbor's yard.

 

[steelman303]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Icallem</div><div class="ubbcode-body">This is something different, but something that needs to be done prior to a fire is to video tape your house and its contents. We had an insurance adjusting business and one of the biggest problems we would see, were people trying to make a list of what they had. The insurance company is not your friend, so the more proof you have, the better. </div></div>

I agree,
my mother ran into that when her house burned.
had a well known fire/flood restoration company come in courtesy of State Farm.
of what they did, they did pretty well, except they mixed up boxes with someone else's crap & a couple of workers (who were caught) tried to make off with some antiques stating that they were beyond repair.
Lucky she had pictures to prove what was/wasn't hers.
State Farm re-built the house, rented her an apartment during construction, & helped (not total replacement) with furnature....
then canceled her policy.

 

[jcfd2201]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 10Truck</div><div class="ubbcode-body">#1. Have working, and properly placed smoke detectors.

#2. Develop a plan of escape with your family and practice in zero visibly, meaning turn the lights out. Once you are out create a meeting spot and stay OUT.

#3. Do NOT attempt to extinguish any kind of advanced fire, you will loose the battle!!

For small fires an ABC will work fine on common combustibles and electrical as well as a grease fueled fires in the kitchen.

</div></div>

^^^^THIS!

EDITH = "Exit Drills In The Home" was something we taught for years. I still use it today with my family. I would also suggest that you practice it several times initially and then do a surprise one when the family is not expecting it.

 

[jeo556]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

Fire extinguishers are good to have around but only for very small fires.

When I was about 19 we had a house fire that was confined to a small portion of the kitchen. From the side door of the house there were 5 steps up and the kitchen was directly to the left of the top of the steps. The fire being rather small at this point, my dad took the garden hose in the side door in order to try and save the house.....and he almost didn't make it out! He siad that he couldn't even see the light coming trough the doorway from less than 5-6' away. Moral of the story, get your children, and pets if possible, and get the f*&% out. He ended up with minor burns including his lungs.

Again, extinguishers are good for a fire in it's infancy, nothing more.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

While working maintenance in a sawmill (made of wood) in a remote area of northern B.C., it fell upon us to be the initial 'fire crew'.

We were trained in Fire/ERT to include high-angle rescue. My father was a fireman, so there was always that 'background' lifestyle built right in.

While working, (ie: welding, cutting-torch, grinding, etc.) there's precautions, sparkwatch, lines run out, sometimes even charged. Piss-cans at the ready, and for the most part those were all that were needed. Most times, just as a precaution we'd hose the area down (fog it, actually) and all would be well.

Working as a team. Of anywhere's from 2 to 5 people.

But it's when there's a surprise that nobody's expecting, that totally changes the dynamic.

One person hollerin' and/or bellowin' on a radio, generally brings out more 'trained and expecting' teammates. Then we'd be running 1 1/2 lines out (multiples) and they'd be spraying and fogging. I've kicked-in the super's door to get at the chainsaws, so that I could cut the wall away whilst 3 hoses were showering me and the area. Fire in the walls (filled with sawdust as insulation) really isn't fun. All because one of the 7 250hp motors that were in the room, decided to go-directly-to-ground mode.

Thing is, this place is our job. We work there. It's ours, and THE ONLY livelyhood in the area. Save the sunofabitch, dammit.

As a team, that's do-able. For a trained and/or practiced team, that is.

Then the trucks show up, and the professionals inspect the area and look for hot-spots.

Now, picture something like that (on a smaller scale) happening in your own home? Wife and/or kids panicking, dog bellowing, baby crying......

GET OUT.

Double check that everyone's out.

Simple rule is, if you can't put the fire out with what you have at hand, in 15 seconds, then it's too big. And you also deduct what time it took while you stood there in awe of the shocking view from that 15 seconds.

Kitchen fires, put a lid on the pot and turn the element off. Spark from a fireplace, that's what the water-grenades are for. (Water grenades being your wife's pretty flower-vases with the latest reparations being displayed) ABC fire extinguishers placed sporadically throughout the house, for when the hair-dryer/vacuum/bedroom fan fizzle/pop/smoke.

Live smart, but live. Don't die stupid.

 

[-Nick-]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

The cloak of invisibility and wieners....

 

[mexicanmatch]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

It is all right to brake your own windows to get out. MM

 

[Tripwire]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

Don't screw around with this.....

If you don't have a clue, and need to ask HERE, then you will be far better served to contact the fire department that will respond to your home in the event of a fire, and request one of their upper level officers come to your home and give you specific advice on what to do.

They will come in, look things over, tell you what you need and where to put it; and they will tell you what they will be doing specifically in your unique situation when they respond. They will give you the best options for egress specific to your home, and they will work out a fire drill plan for your family and help you decide where your safe zone meeting place is outside.

One thing you will NOT be advised to do is try to fight a fire youself. It's perfectly prudent to have extinguishers in the home, but make no mistake as even a slight misjudgement can cost you your life....fire in a home can spread VERY fast and easily overwhelm all but the best trained professional.

My sincere advice is to keep your alarm system up to date and adequate, have a GOOD escape plan, practice that plan, have a GOOD homeowners/renters policy in place.....and get the fuck out if you have a fire.

 

[jcfd2201]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Tripwire</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Don't screw around with this.....

If you don't have a clue, and need to ask HERE, then you will be far better served to contact the fire department that will respond to your home in the event of a fire, and request one of their upper level officers come to your home and give you specific advice on what to do.

They will come in, look things over, tell you what you need and where to put it; and they will tell you what they will be doing specifically in your unique situation when they respond. They will give you the best options for egress specific to your home, and they will work out a fire drill plan for your family and help you decide where your safe zone meeting place is outside.

One thing you will NOT be advised to do is try to fight a fire youself. It's perfectly prudent to have extinguishers in the home, but make no mistake as even a slight misjudgement can cost you your life....fire in a home can spread VERY fast and easily overwhelm all but the best trained professional.

My sincere advice is to keep your alarm system up to date and adequate, have a GOOD escape plan, practice that plan, have a GOOD homeowners/renters policy in place.....and get the fuck out if you have a fire. </div></div>

Good point Tripwire! My department does home fire and safety inspections for free. We have certified fire inspectors and Firewise program trained personnel that provide these services on a regular basis.

 

[Jayne]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

An anecdote about fire extinguishers.... get the largest extinguisher you can easily move around, have a few of them, and go get some training.

My wife and I volunteer on the neighborhood safety team and we've had/attended/hosted a couple of fire extinguisher training events for the neighborhood with our local FD. We've seen people with no experience try their hand and putting out the "burn pan" and they can easily blow through an entire "jumbo sized hard to move around" extinguisher using it inefficiently. They get better with practice but if you're not doing that practice you'll be surprised how fast you can deplete one of those dinky 'kitchen' sized extinguishers and not stop even a small fire.

Look around for your local SAFE team or whatever they have (likely have info posted at the FD somewhere or on their web site) and go learn to fight small fires at the taxpayers expense. Once you have to stand really close to a big burning thing with no gear on you'll learn the importance of running away from fire.

 

[DeputyDawg]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

Start a small fire in a room. See what it takes to manage that. Slowly build up your fires until you have a good working knowledge.

OR

You can take every ones else thoughts.

 

[litotes15]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

1. Easier, safer, and faster to simply open the window instead of breaking it. If for some reason you must break the window, be sure to clear the sills of the glass before climbing through them.

2. Previously stated ABC extinguisher the best bet. Extra safety measure for electrical fires would be to de-energize the electrical appliance before dumping stuff on it.

3. If a fire where to start in your home and it is blocking your egress, close the door to the room you are in. Even the thin honey comb type hollow doors will buy you a substantial amount of time when those seconds are ticking away.
If any other questions pop up, shoot me a message. I do this stuff for a living.

 

[athhud]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

Good insurance and a solid escape plan.

 

[UKDslayer]

Re: How do you prepare for a home fire ?

Thanks for the tips above.

At Thunder Ranch's defensive handgun classes Clint Smith would ask how many people have a loaded weapon by their bed: you can guess the response. His next question was to ask how many people have fire extinguishers by their beds, citing you are more likely to die in bed by fire than intruder. Everyone taking the class a second time raised their hand.