Surviving a Fire

When I was young my mother left candles on the tables at dinner time. My stepdad wasn't paying attention and he set down a pile of napkins right onto the flames. He was so into watching the news that he continued eating while we were all screaming. I threw some water on the flames and it didn't stop it. My sister tried to smother it with a place mat, but that just caught on fire. It was only a few seconds before more things were catching on fire. We had a fire extinguisher in the house, but no one thought to grab it in the heat of the moment. I finally put it out by grabbing the bucket for dishes in the sink and dousing it out. What a nightmare!

 

The risks from fire decrease each year, with furniture made to ever tighter regulations on fire safety. However the risk will never be zero, and you would be surprised how few home themselves contain a fire extinguisher. Even alarms themselves are often left untested and ultimately useless. First and foremost cover these basics and with regards to extinguishers, learn how to use them.

 

Thanks for the heads up lucidcuber! After that incident we inspected all of our extinguishers and found that two were expired. I didn't even know that they would expire after some time. Make sure that you check the expiration date on all of your extinguishers at home. You don't want to find that you have an expired one when it is too late.

 

I just can't understand that your stepdad through all that furor didn't realize that you were all in a dangerous situation. Therefore, the mishap was due to human error and there was the inability to be adequately alert to the danger and the actions to quickly avert the danger. There was a fire extinguisher available which could quickly put out the fire, however, you all struggled to put out using less effective means. There were lessons be learned from this incident and I hope you had taken note of them.

 

This is a scary thread because I shiver with the thought of our house being on fire. My husband and I are the only occupants of our house plus 2 housemaids who are the caretakers when we are at work. The housemaids also care for our 3 dogs. I have explicit instructions to them that in case of fire, give the dogs the utmost priority. Get them into a safe place and never mind the house and the things in there. One problem here when there is a fire is the presence of opportunists. Most incidents of fire would yield looters who are caught red-handed.

In any disaster, not just fire, the human life is paramount and pets are secondary. But since we consider our pets as family so their life is also paramount.

 

Planning how you'll get your family and yourself to safety might be crucial because if you aren't prepared you'll panic and if you do then the odds of survival drop. But even with all the planning and your fire alarms don't work you may find that you need to get out of the house through the fire. What you need? Fire blankets. You can wrap yourself in a fire blanket and make your way out of the house.

 

Casualties from fire outbreaks arise due to the confusion accompanying such fires. During such an event, a person is advised to stay calm and try to locate the escape routes. Most buildings nowadays have fire exits and this should be a regulation imposed on owners of buildings. Defensive living also helps since one studies the environment for an exit strategy in case of a contingency.

 

That's scary, and what a traumatic experience it must have been. Fortunately I've never been trough these experiences

 

It is definitely scary! It never happened to me or my family but I have friends that had experienced a fire before.
One of my friends had forgotten to turn off the oven and she had a pan with oil still on it cooking away while her and her family with 4 kids were away.
The house caught on fire and they were stranded for a while till they found a new place. They lost everything and had to start new with nothing.
We have also lived in an apartment before that had caught fire before we moved in there. I talked to the neighbors and they told me how terrible it was. Other apartments in the same building were also affected by the fire. Apparently, it was on purpose. One of the neighbors at the time let a motorcycle run in the basement and with time the whole basement and first 3 floors of apartments were on fire.
Then there was also another incident not too far from that place. A mother left her two small children (3 and 5 years old at the time) alone at home and went to the grocery store. When she came back her house was on fire. No one could get in the apartment because it was locked and too late. The two children were eventually found hiding under a blanket in their room. They died so fast. It turned out that they played with matches that were lying on the table in the living room. Such stories make you sad but also warn you to be more careful about your surroundings.

 

That's terrifying but at least you were able to put out the fire before it gets out of hand. It's important to have these tools for emergencies such as this. Being calm and collected under these scary situations is crucial so you can focus on how to save yourself and your family.