Fire Drills

We are very consistent with practicing fire drills as a family, but, I must note that unless the routine is ingrained into young minds at a deep level children may panic in the heat of the moment.....literally. While quarterly home fire drills are better than nothing, monthly are better, and weekly are ideal. In the wake of 2 disastrous and absolutely tragic large family house fires...stories found here and here ......we have committed to making fire drills part of our weekly school routine....thus, Fire Drill Fridays were born. The deaths of these families are such tragic and preventable deaths. One family with 8 children in PA in which 7 children perished and only the father away at work, the mother milking in the barn and a 3 year old surviving. The other fire in Ontario in which all 7 children and the pregnant mother perished while the father was away firming up plans for them to move. Being married to a firefighter, this reality is made even more real by just how many children and adults perish from such preventable deaths, fire ignorance, and lack of an escape plan....from only a 1 child family to a family of our size or larger. Husband has found deceased people lying only feet away from the front door...from adults to children alike. Such entirely needless and preventable deaths.

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Smoke alarms. Invest in some for every bedroom, study/computer room, playroom space, the kitchen, laundry room, living area, and all hallways. Anywhere air might pool.

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It is imperative to educate your children, have a plan, give them the tools they need for escape, and for them to possess the ability to execute it as second nature. It is the very real difference between life and death. As a parent it is my responsibility to give them the tools and knowledge needed to survive that which they can. If children sleep on a second floor invest in what is needed to give them a way of escape from their bedroom....not the stairs! Every person within the home must have a way of escape from a bedroom window. One Step Ahead sells these escape ladders. Though priced at 99.99 for second floor windows and one is needed for every upstairs bedroom it is very much worth the immediate expenditure required. One can never in a lifetime put a price on your child or children's lives. Lowe's Home Improvement Stores offer these models for just 29.97.

Just as a parent ensures safety in car seats and gives children the best possible chance of survival within a car wreck so should a parent ensure safety just as much within the home if a fire occurs. A child spends much more time within the home asleep in their beds or heavily at play than they ever do in the car. So many parents fail to protect children in this area of house fires or home invasion. Children need to be given the knowledge and items needed to escape a fiery inferno or any danger that may present itself with a need for quick exit. When using a second floor ladder for escape make sure it is kept within children's reach and that they know how to properly use it to escape on their own and aid in the assistance of younger children escaping the same room.

A house can never have enough smoke alarms. Each bedroom needs an alarm along with kitchen, laundry, living area, any hallways no matter their length, and any other rooms within the home. Anywhere air can pool needs its own alarm. At only 8.00-12.00 each this is such an easy and affordable life saver, as most homes are already armed with alarms and just need a few more well placed ones. Since we do our fire drills weekly we are also assured that batteries are working well.

Our children are taught to immediately close all doors if any are open once alarm goes off. They have been taught to never go back for anything. We reassure them that we will buy whatever is left behind so there is no temptation. Children tend to have the "Oh wait!!! My puppy!!" fear and want to run to claim anything so cherished that might be burned. They are taught to shut doors and leave it all if they do not already have it in hand. Everyone is well versed in not opening the door for any reason once it has been closed. Oldest in room has leader status. Next oldest goes out of the window first to aid in helping younger ones out.

Our current sleeping arrangement is Grayson, Aubrey, Garrison, Grant, Garrett, Gavin, and Ivye in the bigger bunk room. Evye and little twins are in the nursery. Grayson is responsible for opening window and maintaining order. Grant's job is to close both bedroom doors, as they are usually reopened after bedtime due to middle of the night bathroom trips. Aubrey goes out first and Grayson then hands Ivye out with her puppy and Gavin follows. Aubrey is then able to guide the two younger ones to our meeting tree. Garrett and big twins follow their exit and Grayson is last man out.

Last man out

We also practice and exclude Grayson since one night a week he is away in town. He rides in with shift husband, taxidermies all day and then spends the night at the station, returning home with Brad the next morning. When Grayson is absent Aubrey assumes leadership and opening the window and Garrison exits first so that Ivye and Gavin can be handed out to him. He is then responsible for helping them run to the meeting tree, Aubrey assures that Grant and Garrett get out and she is last man out.

Aubrey in charge after she'd already handed Ivye out to Garrison

Evye sleeps in nursery with baby boys. Since she is a bit outnumbered we had to be creative. We store an unused flat bed sheet in a bed drawer near the window. She wraps one baby up within and lowers him down to the ground and out of the way of where she will jump. She grabs the second baby and escapes with him securely in arms. By that time Grayson or Aubrey are usually out and grabbing the other baby from the ground. If for some reason they are held up and Evye is already out she grabs other baby in arms also and takes off for tree.

wrapping 1st baby up

lowering him to the ground

and escaping with 2nd baby

We time these drills and constantly challenge the family to grow faster and more efficient at it and to also make sure we never lose ground. From time of first smoke alarm beep with all children lying in bed to all children out of house is 58 seconds. Time to everyone being gathered under tree is 1:06. Before babies they could all be out and under tree in 56 seconds. I was a bit distraught over the additional time that was tacked on but firefighting husband said this is still an excellent time and is well within the safe window. Oldest person at tree is responsible for doing a head count and keeping everyone gathered and calm.

heading for the tree

the meeting tree

It is one thing to do planned fire drills in daylight and it is quite another to be awakened from a deep sleep in the darkness and still carry out a practiced routine. Since I am not about to wake ten sleeping through the night children every week we do our weekly drills during the day and I wake them quarterly....as in, 4 times a year...once a season.....to do surprise nighttime drills. This familiarizes the would be foreign-ness and fear of being awakened by screeching alarms and running through the grass foggy headed, sleepy eyed, barefoot and in pj's. They do not know when these middle of the night drills will occur. This ensures they have the ability to carry it out if the real deal were to ever happen.

Children that are an older 3 and definitely by age 4 should be able to escape on their own. If you have young children that cannot aid in helping younger siblings, lower the time it takes to get to them by keeping something long and hard, like a metal pipe, outside of the house and below their window to break it. Having something like a metal pipe easily within reach reduces time spent searching for an object with which to break the window. The pipe also possesses the ability to make a clean sweep of the glass so there are no jagged edges, enabling a faster entrance and exit from window. A really sturdy, thick stick or small, sturdy, dead, tree branch would accomplish the same thing. Make sure furniture in room is arranged so that windows are not blocked and beds are located away from windows, in the event one needs to be broken forcefully from the outside in order to get to child. Sleep with all doors shut within the house. These measures will buy you precious time when saving the life of your children and preserving your own so that you are able to get to them.

General rule of thumb is to never re-enter a burning structure. However, I do know that if I am unable to reach my children via the interior of the house that I will run around to them and go to any means necessary to save them, including re-entry. It may not be an ideal outcome but I do know beyond any doubt that I will die trying. There is no way that I would waste precious minutes waiting on firefighters to get there. Average US fire response time is 6 minutes. The NFPA (National Fire Protection Assc) set the six minute standard - a guideline, not a law.

1 minute for the dispatcher handling a 911 call to alert firefighters

1 minute for a full company of 4 firefighters to slip into their gear and get on the road

4 minutes to drive to the fire

In our rural town help is many long miles away and much longer than 6 minutes away.

Be safe. Be responsible. Educate your children. Have a plan for everyone and know it well, including yourself. You'll never regret spending time practicing or wish you hadn't done it. But you may look back and wish you had.