Have an escape route planned: Saskatoon Fire Department

The Saskatoon Fire Department want people to be fire safe in their homes.

Assistant chief Wayne Rodger said people should have a plan in place in the unlikely event there is a fire.

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“Most people feel that a fire is not going to happen to them, we see it almost daily,” Rodger said.

“Our message to the citizens of Saskatoon is be prepared, have that plan.”

Rodger said that includes having a schedule for practicing escape routes, which should include two ways of getting out of a room.

“If a fire happens in your home, it’s going to happen somewhere, and if that somewhere obstructs your way out, you need to have another way,” Rodger said.

“We spend a lot of time in our bedrooms sleeping, so if that fire happens in the middle of the night and it obstructs your way out, you want that second way out.

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A good escape plan should include the following, according to the Saskatoon Fire Department:

• draw a map of your home showing all doors and windows and discuss the plan with everyone in your home;
• know two ways out of every room and make sure all doors and windows open easily;
• have an outside meeting place that is a safe distance from your home where everyone will meet;
• practice your home escape plan at least twice a year;
• get out of a burning building immediately and phone for help from a safer location;
• never allow the fire to get between you and the exit;
• if you have to escape through smoke, get low and go under the smoke;
• every member of your household should know the exits and how to use them;
• teach children how to escape on their own in case you can’t help them;
• make sure that babysitters know the escape exits and the basic rules of fire prevention; and
• if the fire alarm sounds get out and stay out.

Another key to a good escape plan, said Rodger, is repetition.

“We do that in the schools all the time, so we’re teaching our kids how to react to that smoke alarm,” Rodger said.

“If you do it enough, it becomes normal.”