Fire Escape Plan for a Two-Story House {National Fire Prevention}

This post is an introduction to an article I wrote for First Security Bank’s mortgage site. Also, there’s an affiliate link in this post, so you can buy a fire safety ladder. Practice often.

National Fire Prevention Week

National Fire Prevention Week happened in October. Did your children come home from school bearing pamphlets about fire drills at home? Mine did. In past years, we’ve talked about how and where to get out of the house in case of a fire emergency, but hadn’t practiced what to do if the stairway was blocked by fire.

After umpteen years of not practicing the escape from our two-story house, we can finally say we now check that off our list.

Having a Fire Escape Plan for Your Two-Story House

I think the reason families tend to skip over this lifesaving training is because we think an emergency like a house fire won’t happen to us and so we don’t give it the attention it deserves as training.

The Pilot has training at least twice a year. I maintain a teacher’s certificate by taking courses for continuing education. You probably have some type of ongoing education requirements for your job.

Think of fire safety practice as an ongoing education for your family. The potentially life-saving kind.

For First Security Bank in Arkansas, I researched and wrote about fire safety for a two-story house.

Before committing to the piece, the research involved saying this sentence to my husband: “Hey Hon, Guess what? I/we have the opportunity to practice a drill to help keep our family safe in case of a fire in this house, the kind of fire that would trap us all on the second floor, write about it, and get paid for it.

He didn’t care about the last part. But bless him, he didn’t even flinch.

The article research then involved interviewing firefighters in our area. I learned a few things about fire safety and doing fire drill with family members I didn’t know before, information relevant for escape from any kind of structure.

Then came the hands-on research that involves the whole family climbing out of a high window and descending down a ladder.

It was an adventure. 

 

Fire Safety for a Two Story House 

Additional tidbits about this fire escape experience:

• Fire safety ladders are a bit dangerous. Getting stuck in a fire is more so.

 

• When firefighters arrive on scene, they are most concerned with making sure everyone is out of the house. Be sure to read and heed the part about young children being able to communicate the number of people in the family.