Hellobee Boards

Our fire escape ladder is in a closet off the hallway which all our bedrooms are. Unless the fire is in her room we do not want her leaving her bedroom. We would get the ladder and each get a child. Use the ladder if necessary and if not out the front door which is just a few steps down.

Good for you for thinking about this now, before it's too late.

11 months ago, our condo building caught fire - someone on the first floor threw a cigarette out on the porch and the wind pushed it up against the side of the house where some dried leaves caught fire... from there, the fire went up the side of the building and completely destroyed 6 units and the entire roof.

It was the scariest thing I have EVER seen. We had no idea if our unit was safe. We could see the flames from outside my daughter's window.

We were able to go back up to our unit a few hours later and grab a few things to take to a hotel - we were out for a week before we could move back in, per the Fire Marshal. Our unit ended up to be completely undamaged - the fire walls in the building literally saved our lives & our belongings.

All this to say - I never in a million years would have thought I'd ever see my own house on fire. We left with nothing except what we were wearing, our child, and our dog. It is smart to have a plan in place in case of emergency.

The fire tags that you can put on your windows and doors are a good idea, but ONLY if they are accurate. The fire department (here, anyway) advises against them because if they are inaccurate, they could cause the firemen to be in a house longer than necessary (looking for a dog that doesn't exist) or allow them to leave thinking they have everyone out safely (if someone/animal is missing from the tag).

@kiddosc: Yep, it was 11pm on a Tuesday in Feb. Once we saw the flames, we left the house in what we were wearing; we didn't stop for coats or anything. I had on a tank top and shorts (and my glasses bc I need them to see the iPad & we had been watching a show in bed), my husband had on a short sleeve shirt and fleece pants (no socks, no glasses bc he doesn't need them to see the iPad - but he does need them to see EVERYTHING else), and my 3 year old was wearing fleece pjs with no socks. Thankfully we grabbed the house/car keys, so we were able to get downstairs and get directly into our car, which we backed away from the building and sat in with the engine running, as we watched our building literally burn down.

We had never discussed what we'd do in a fire prior to this experience, but instinctively we knew that one of us needed to get the child and the other needed to get the dog. There wasn't a lot of talking while it was happening. My daughter was sleeping in her bed, so we knew exactly where she was and didn't waste any time getting to her.

Weeks after the fire, we picked up a tray of cookies for the fire department and went to visit when we knew the squad that saved us would be on duty. They were wonderful - gave us a tour of the station, showed us the trucks, and answered a ton of questions we had about how we could be better prepared in the future. If you have a station close to you, I would suggest going to visit with your child. It was neat for my daughter to see the trucks up close, and we were able to ask specific questions about our condo building. I'm sure your local department would be more than happy to talk with you and show your child the fire trucks!

I've thought about this but have no plan. We live on the 5th floor of a late 19th century apartment building. I have no idea how we would get out since the only way out is the main stairs (no fire escapes). It's scary to think about. My DH has a coworker who lost his entire house to fire right before the holidays. Since it was a house, they were able to jump out of the window though.

@ktdid23: I don't think so, but I should look. And there is only one stairwell. We have smoke detectors in our apartment though. I think fire safety standards aren't the same here as elsewhere. That said, my building survived WWII, so at least it's tough.

@kiddosc: daycare is having a firefighter and a search and rescue dog come in tomorrow to talk about fire safety. I'm glad my dd will be around for it.

This site was shared
http://www.safekids.org/fire