Be Fire Safe - know your escape plan! -
Published: 17 Feb 2025 01:02pm
Accidental home fires can catch people unawares. Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) is urging the community to prepare a home escape plan so that families can escape safely should a fire occur.
Having a home escape plan in conjunction with a working smoke alarm will greatly increase your chances of getting out safely. Every second counts.
A home fire escape plan involves identifying escape routes from each room of the home as well as a place to meet once safely outside.
Know your fire escape plan no matter where you are, familiarise yourself with the layout and establish a clear fire escape plan. This includes knowing all exits and safe paths to quickly evacuate if needed.
Tips on preparing a home escape plan:
- Draw a floor plan of your home and mark your escape plan identifying two ways out of each room. Discuss your escape plan with your family/roommates
- Make sure that windows and screens can be easily opened
- Provide alternatives for anyone with a disability
- Decide on a safe outside meeting place e.g. near the letterbox
- Practice your plan at least twice a year, making sure that everyone is involved.
- Once you get out, stay out, and call Triple Zero (000). Never go back inside a burning building
If you live in an apartment building:
- Learn and practice your building's evacuation plan
- If you hear the fire alarm, leave immediately
- Use the stairs - never use a lift/elevator during a fire
Quotes attributable to FRNSW Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell:
“Without an escape plan, you are placing the lives of everybody in your home in jeopardy. Plan your actions before a fire happens and give you and your family the extra seconds needed to escape alive.
“Home fire escape plans are especially important for people with reduced mobility and for children.
“Children can easily become disoriented and if they don’t have an escape plan, they can waste precious minutes searching for parents/care givers or escaping the wrong way and getting trapped.
“Parents/care givers should show their children how to escape from each room and make sure they know where to meet once they are out of the house.”
For further information, visit the FRNSW website: https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/escapeplan [external link]
Updated: 17 Feb 2025 12:07pm
Related safety topics
It“s the law to have at least one working smoke alarm installed on every level of your home.
Having a home escape plan and a working smoke alarm increases your chances of getting out safely.
Details about this incident may change and should not be used as emergency information and/or advice.
For all life threatening emergencies, call Triple Zero (000)
For flood information, warnings or requests for non-life threatening assistance, call the SES on 132 500 or visit the NSW State Emergency Service website here. [external link].
For information directly relating to bushfires please call the Bush Fire Information Line on 1800 679 737 or visit the NSW Rural Fire Service Website here. [external link]