🧯 House fire: what to do, step by step
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From the moment the alarm sounds you may have 2 minutes or less to get out. Smoke kills more people than flames.
Open the guide in the app (works offline)Step by step
| The alarm goes off | Shout to warn everyone and get out. Don't stop to grab things or to look for the source of the fire. |
|---|---|
| On the way out | Stay low, below the smoke. Before opening a door, touch it with the back of your hand: if it's hot, find another way out. Close doors behind you: they slow the fire down. |
| Once outside | Go to the meeting point, check that everyone is there and call your local emergency number (112 in Europe, 911 in North America). Never go back inside. |
| If you can't get out | Shut everyone in a room with a window, seal the gaps around the door with wet towels, call your local emergency number (112 in Europe, 911 in North America) and signal from the window. |
Before
- Fit a smoke alarm in the hallway outside the bedrooms and on every floor; test the button every month.
- Keep an ABC dry powder fire extinguisher and a fire blanket near the kitchen, and learn how to use them.
- Plan two ways out of every room and a meeting point outside, and practice it once a year.
- Leave the keys by the door: in a fire there's no time to look for them.
During
- Pan fire: turn off the stove and cover the pan with a lid or the fire blanket. Never throw water on it.
- Only use the extinguisher if the fire is small and the exit is behind you. If you can't put it out in a few seconds, get out.
- If your clothes catch fire: stop, drop to the ground, cover your face and roll.
- In a building, never use the elevator. If smoke fills the stairwell, stay in your home with the door closed and wet.
After
- Don't go in until the fire department says it's safe. Have a technician check the electrical and gas systems.
- Cool burns under running tap water for 20 minutes; don't use ice, toothpaste or oil.
What you need for this emergency
- X-Sense, smoke alarm (10-year battery)
- Smartwares, 2 kg ABC dry powder fire extinguisher
- Kitchen fire blanket
- X-Sense, carbon monoxide detector
See the full kit: Home safety →
Figures and sources
- Time to get out of a burning house: 2 minutes or less from when the alarm sounds (American Red Cross)
- Smoke alarms: In homes with working smoke alarms, the death rate from fires is 55% lower (NFPA (National Fire Protection Association, US), "Smoke Alarms in U.S. Home Fires")