How would you get out?

[somersethedge]

had to smile at your 60+ being old sarah....

my mother often complains about old people blocking the aisle up in supermarkets and stopping her from getting to where she wants to be....

My mother is 77 but she doesn't think of herself as old

and Pam's Old aunt (up until the day she died) was always complaining of the same thing and she was 97 when she passed

[kengillam]

Sixty..old.... now feels depressed

[ruthiewildchild]

er... there is a danger in not telling people it's a drill, surely? Effectively you are training them not to believe you when you tell them its an emergency.

"Quick, out, the house is on fire!"
"Yeah, sure Mum, that's what you said last time <snore>."

We were never told it was drill at work, yet every time those fire bells went off we all followed proceedure and left the building.

On the flip side, if you tell them it's a drill, they are more likely to take it less seriously. The whole point of the drill being un-expected is to practise for a real fire - panic, confusion etc.

[bykimbo]

Sixty..old.... now feels depressed

Be honest, when you were Sarah's age, did you think 60 was young? The older you get, the younger you realise you are.

[Armstrongs]

Just been a fire near us and all got out with some help from others as they were elderly (60+)

Things like this just make me think "how would I get out" and more importantly how would I get the kids out first?

Yes we have a fire plan but things like this make you think.

We have several "fire routes" planned depending on where the fire (and smoke) is

But something does puzzle me....I live in an old house and have a good few battery smoke alarms

But new houses have to have "hard wired" smoke alarms fitted...and they also have "circuit breakers" not fuse boxes.
Now, anyone with a circuit breaker knows that the slightest "issue" with the electrics.....knocks the breaker off ......even a blown light bulb!
So, if the fire is started by an electrical fault...and the breaker blows....how do the alarms still work?

Anyone?

Yvonne x

[bykimbo]

We were never told it was drill at work, yet every time those fire bells went off we all followed proceedure and left the building.

On the flip side, if you tell them it's a drill, they are more likely to take it less seriously. The whole point of the drill being un-expected is to practise for a real fire - panic, confusion etc.

I thought we were talking about families at home. I think it's different there from the work place.

[Teddyrose54]

I've always told my kids to get out first and as fast as they can.

The OH~ I've told him, it's every man for his self~

[sidthelamp]

We have several "fire routes" planned depending on where the fire (and smoke) is

But something does puzzle me....I live in an old house and have a good few battery smoke alarms

But new houses have to have "hard wired" smoke alarms fitted...and they also have "circuit breakers" not fuse boxes.
Now, anyone with a circuit breaker knows that the slightest "issue" with the electrics.....knocks the breaker off ......even a blown light bulb!
So, if the fire is started by an electrical fault...and the breaker blows....how do the alarms still work?

Anyone?

Yvonne x

idependent power supply and or batteries

[PoppyGrove]

We have several "fire routes" planned depending on where the fire (and smoke) is

But something does puzzle me....I live in an old house and have a good few battery smoke alarms

But new houses have to have "hard wired" smoke alarms fitted...and they also have "circuit breakers" not fuse boxes.
Now, anyone with a circuit breaker knows that the slightest "issue" with the electrics.....knocks the breaker off ......even a blown light bulb!
So, if the fire is started by an electrical fault...and the breaker blows....how do the alarms still work?

Anyone?

Yvonne x

The fire alarms where I worked all used to be on the electrical system, and the main alarm box and emergency exit lights all had battery backup. Not the torch type batterys but large sugar packet size things. It may be an idea to check with the installers that your system has a battery back up in case of electric power cuts.

[PoppyGrove]

One place for your own peace of mind to install a fire / smoke alarm is by the electric meters or meter cupboard.

When I was working for some unknown reason we had a fire and it started in or around the electric meters, which were in a small cupboard like room to the right hand side of the front door.

In most domestic residences - homes, the electric meters are always by the front or back doors. Ours is in the basement - yes - underneath the front door - and with ours being a terraced house with no rear access - right under neath our only fire exit.

We have an idea of our escape plan, and both of us have our 'plan of escape' engrained into our grey cells, and both of us 'know what we are to do' to get the dogs, important papers and ourselves safely out of the house but we haven't done a fire drill as such. We both keep torches to the side of our bed so we're not getting out in the dark and that lessens the danger of one of us falling over one of the dogs. Neither of us are prone to panic - but that said, we can't really predict our behaviour on the day.

However, I've had experience of escaping a fire and taking charge of ensuring everyone else is out of the building when we had that incident in work and Ray has had military training and knows how to react in an emergency.