Home fire escape plan: 2 ways out of every room and a 2-minute drill, twice a year

Why 2 minutes

USFA says a small flame can turn into a major fire in less than 30 seconds. The time to escape is short and starts with the alarm. [S4]

• Less than 2 minutes. USFA says you may have less than 2 minutes to escape once the smoke alarm sounds. The Red Cross says less than two minutes once a fire starts. [S3] [S6]
• People guess long. NFPA’s escape planning tip sheet cites a survey: one-third of American households that made an estimate thought they would have at least 6 minutes. Only 8% said their first thought on hearing a smoke alarm would be to get out. [S2]
• Few have practiced. The same tip sheet says only one of every three American households has made and practiced a plan. 71% had a plan, but only 47% of those had practiced it. [S2]

Draw it

The steps USFA, NFPA and the Red Cross give, in order. The Red Cross has a free printable grid if you want one. [S1] [S3] [S9]

1. Map every room. Draw a floor plan of the home, with all the doors and windows. NFPA adds: mark where each smoke alarm is. [S1] [S3]
2. Mark two ways out of each room. More on that below. [S1] [S3] [S5]
3. Pick a meeting place outside, in front of the home. Something fixed, a safe distance away: NFPA suggests a neighbor’s house, a light post, a mailbox or a stop sign. Mark it on the map. [S1] [S3]
4. Write the fire department number on the plan, and make sure everyone knows how to call 911 from outside. [S1] [S4]
5. Make the house easy to find. Check that your street number can be seen from the road; the Red Cross adds even at night. [S1] [S8]

Two ways out of every room

The Red Cross says the first way out is often a doorway and the second may be a window or a second door. [S6]

• Keep both clear. No clutter, furniture or equipment in the way. [S3] [S6]
• Try every window. When you walk through the plan, check that doors and windows open easily. [S1]
• Security bars need a release. NFPA says bars on doors or windows need emergency release devices inside so they can be opened right away; the Red Cross calls it a quick release. [S1] [S6]
• If one way is blocked, use the other. If smoke or fire blocks the first way, use the second. [S6]

Upstairs rooms

NFPA says that in a two-story home, everyone, including children, must be able to escape from the second-floor rooms. Escape ladders placed in or near windows can give that room a second way out, and the Red Cross suggests considering them for second-floor sleeping areas. [S1] [S6]

• Read the instructions first, so you know how to use it in an emergency. [S1]
• Practice from the ground floor. NFPA says to practice setting the ladder up from a first-floor window. Children should practice only with a grown-up, and only from a first-story window. [S1]
• Store it by the window, where it is easy to reach, so no one has to search for it during a fire. [S1]
• The standard to look for. ASTM F2175 is the standard specification for portable and permanent emergency escape ladders for residential use; the current edition is F2175-23. Checking a ladder’s packaging for it, and checking that the ladder is long enough for that window, is our suggestion, not an agency rule. [S12]

The alarm starts the clock

An escape plan depends on hearing the alarm early. [S1]

• Where. NFPA says to install smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area and on every level. [S1] [S4]
• Linked. NFPA says its alarm code, NFPA 72, requires interconnected smoke alarms throughout the home: when one sounds, they all sound. [S1]
• Working. USFA says to test every alarm each month and replace any that are 10 years old or older. The Red Cross says working alarms can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half. [S4] [S7]

Alarm chirping at night? Our smoke alarm chirp guide covers battery versus end of life.

Close the door

NFPA says a closed door may slow the spread of smoke, heat and fire, and that closing doors on your way out gives you more time to escape. [S1]

The Fire Safety Research Institute, part of UL Research Institutes, showed why in an October 2017 house fire experiment. Measured 4 feet above the floor before firefighters put the fire out, the peaks were: [S10]

• Living room, where it started: 1400°F. [S10]
• Hallway: 750°F and 10,000 ppm of carbon monoxide. [S10]
• Bedroom with the door open: 500°F and 6,000 ppm. [S10]
• Bedroom with the door closed: 100°F and 600 ppm. [S10]

That’s the institute’s advice: sleep with the bedroom door closed. [S11]

Who needs help

• A helper and a backup. NFPA says to assign one person to help each infant, older adult or person with limited mobility, and a backup in case that person isn’t home. [S1]
• Young children. USFA says children under four are at higher risk of fire injury and death than other children, and to teach children to escape on their own in case you can’t help them. [S4]
• Older adults. USFA says to keep a wheelchair, eyeglasses, hearing aids and a phone next to the bed, and to plan for anyone who may need help getting out. [S4]
• Deaf or hard of hearing. USFA says to make sure everyone can hear the alarm, and to install alarms and alert devices made for people who are deaf or hard of hearing if needed. [S4]
• Guests. NFPA says to tell overnight guests about your plan, and when kids sleep over somewhere else, to ask about that family’s plan. [S1]

Run the drill

Practice at least twice a year with everyone who lives there. [S3] [S4] [S8]

1. Start it like the real thing. Press the smoke alarm test button, or yell “Fire,” so everyone knows to get out. [S3] [S8]
2. Go from where you are. NFPA says to make drills as realistic as you can. Practice getting low and going under the smoke to your exit, and close doors behind you. [S1]
3. Use the meeting spot. Everyone goes straight there and stays there. [S3]
4. Time it. The Red Cross calls it a 2-minute drill and says to find out your escape time. [S7] [S9]
5. Check who slept through it. NFPA says to find out during the drill whether children and others wake to the alarm. If someone doesn’t, assign someone to wake them, in drills and for real. [S1]
6. Night drills come later. NFPA says to let children master the plan before a nighttime drill while they’re asleep. Telling them before bed that there will be a drill works as well as a surprise; the point is practice, not fright. [S1]

When it’s real: get out and stay out. The Red Cross says never go back inside for people, pets or things. Call 911 from outside, and if someone is missing, tell the fire department dispatcher. [S1] [S6] [S9]

To remember the twice a year, some families tie it to the spring and fall clock changes, if their area has them. That pairing is our suggestion.

Apartments and high-rises

• Stairs, not the elevator. USFA says to use the stairs and not the elevator unless the fire department directs you to, and the Red Cross says never to take the elevator during a fire. [S3] [S6]
• Count the doors. The Red Cross says to find the fire doors and fire-safe stairways on your floor and count the doors between your unit and the exits, which helps in smoke. [S6]
• On the way out. USFA says to close the door behind you and pull the building’s fire alarm. [S3]
• Know the building’s plan. NFPA notes that in some high-rise buildings, staying put, called defending in place, may be safer than leaving. Ask your building manager which applies to you; that last step is our suggestion. [S1]

If you’re trapped

NFPA says to practice sealing yourself in for safety as part of the plan, in case smoke or fire blocks every way out. [S1]

1. Close every door between you and the fire. [S1]
2. Seal the cracks. Use duct tape or towels on the door cracks and cover air vents. [S1]
3. Call the fire department and tell them exactly where you are. [S1]
4. Signal. Wave a flashlight or a light-colored cloth at the window. If you can, open the window at the top and bottom for fresh air. [S1]

Check your plan

Pick your home and who lives with you. The check puts the NFPA, USFA and Red Cross points from this page in one place. Your building’s plan and your fire department’s advice still come first. [S1] [S3] [S4] [S6]

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