From the American Red Cross:
- Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas.
- Once a month check whether each alarm in the home is working properly by pushing the test button.
- Replace batteries in smoke alarms at least once a year. Immediately install a new battery if an alarm chirps, warning the battery is low.
- Teach your children what smoke alarms sound like and what to do when they hear one.
- Ensure that all household members know two ways to escape from every room of your home, and where to meet up outside.
- Practice your fire escape plan at least twice a year and at different times of the day. Practice waking up to smoke alarms, crawling low and meeting outside. Make sure everyone knows how to call 9-1-1.
- Emphasize “get out, stay out.” Only professional firefighters should enter a building that is on fire—even if other family members, pets or prized possessions are inside.
- Use quick-release devices on barred windows and doors. Security bars without release devices can trap you in a deadly fire. If you have security bars on your windows, be sure one window in each sleeping room has a release device.
- Consider getting escape ladders for sleeping areas on the second or third floor. Learn how to use them and store them near the windows.
- Teach household members to STOP, DROP and ROLL if their clothes should catch on fire.
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