Home Escape Planning
Home escape planning is everyone’s responsibility. It is critical for ensuring the safety of our loved ones if in the event of a fire or other emergency. Having a well-thought-out plan can significantly reduce the time it takes to evacuate, potentially saving lives. On average, you have as little as one to two minutes, in order to escape a home fire before it becomes too dangerous.
Take a few minutes with everyone in your household to create an effective home escape plan download the OMFES Home Escape Plan.
- Draw a Floor Plan: Sketch your home, marking all doors and windows that can serve as exits. Include building features like stairways and rooftop access.
- Identify a Safe Meeting Place: Choose a safe location outside that everyone will remember to gather after escaping. (example: tree, streetlight, or mailbox)
- Show two ways out of every room, if possible. A door is the main exit, but a window may serve as an alternate escape route. If on a second storey explore the use of escape ladders.
4. Locate Alarms: Mark the positions of all smoke and carbon monoxide alarms on your plan. Working smoke alarms are so important, it’s the law to have them on every storey of your home and outside sleeping areas. The Ontario Fire Code now requires every home that has a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning install a CO alarm outside of sleeping areas.
5. Practice Regularly: Conduct drills twice a year and test your alarms monthly to ensure everyone knows the plan and the alarms are functioning properly.
6. Special considerations for those who may need assistance: Does someone in your home need help to escape? Decide in advance who will take these actions to help a young child, older adult or person with disabilities that lives in the home.
7. Use the OMFES Home Escape Plan: Download and use OMFES home escape plan template. This tool can help you organize and implement your plan more effectively.
By following these steps, you can be better prepared to act quickly and safely in an emergency.
Remember:
- Plan two (2) ways out of every room, if possible.
- Hold a fire drill twice a year.
- Install smoke alarms on every storey of your home and outside all sleeping areas.
- If you live in a high-rise building, contact the building management for information on your building's fire safety plan.
- Plan around your abilities and help those who need assistance.
- Get Out and Stay Out! Call 9-1-1.
Learn more about home escape planning on the National Fire Protection Association's website.
Additional Information
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