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If your smoke alarmwent off in the nightwould you know what to do? Thisleaflet explains how to make a fire actionplan for your home.Read it now – it couldsave lives.

Plan together now

1 Take everyone into account

• Make your fire actionplan with everyone in your household,especially children and elderly or disabled people.

2 Your best escaperoute is your normal way in and out of your home

• Decide on a differentroute as well, in case thenormal one is blocked.• Keep all escape routes clear.

3 Tell everyone in yourhousehold where youkeep your door andwindow keys

• You can be safe as wellas secure if you makesure that anyone whoneeds to get out in anemergency can easilyopen doors and windows.

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4 When it’s safer to stay in your home

• If your escape route isblocked, it may be safer to stay put and protectyourself until the FireBrigade arrives. • Find a suitable roomnow. Choose one with a window that opens and, if possible, a phoneso that you can call 999.

• If the stairs in a block of flats are blocked by fire or smoke, don’t usethe lift. Stay calm and go back inside your flat – it’s designed to keep fire out.

• Close the door and follow the safetysteps in this leaflet.

If you would like freeadvice on making yourfire action plan, contactyour local Fire Brigade.The number is in yourlocal phone book.

When you make your fire action plan:

✓ always include childrenand elderly and disabledpeople;

✓ choose the best escaperoute and another way out, and keep them clear;

✓ tell everyone where the door and window keys are; and

✓ if you can’t escape,it’s safer to stay in your home, protectyourself, and wait to be rescued.

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Safety steps to save lives

1 Fit smoke alarms on each floor level in your home

• If you don’t have workingsmoke alarms in yourhome, your chances ofsurviving a fire when youare asleep are almost zero.

• Test your smoke alarms every month and replace batteries once a year.• If your smoke alarmskeep going off, don’tdisconnect them. They are only doing their job. Ask the FireBrigade about the best place to put them

so that they won’t keepgoing off, for example,when you are cooking.

2 Keep doors closed at night

• This will help delay thespread of fire and smoke.

3 Do a safety checkbefore you go to bed each night

• The more electricalappliances you can switchoff at the wall socket, thesafer you will be.

• Check gas appliancesand put a spark guard in front of open fires.

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• Put out cigarette endsand candles properly.Always keep matches and cigarette lightersaway from children.

4 Practise your fireaction plan

• Knowing what to do and acting quickly willsave lives. Regularly

take a few minutes to‘walk’ the escape routewith everyone in yourhousehold and check that everyone can unlock and open doorsand windows easily.• Review your planregularly, especially if you make any changes in your home.

Protect yourself andreduce the risk of fire by:

✓ fitting smoke alarms on each floor level andtesting them each month; ✓ keeping doors closed at night;✓ switching off as manyelectrical appliances aspossible at night; and

✓ putting out cigarettesand candles safely, andkeeping matches andlighters away fromchildren.

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What to do if there’s a fire

1 Raise the alarm

• If your smoke alarmgoes off while you areasleep, don’t investigateto see if there is a fire.Shout to wake everyoneup, get everyonetogether, follow yourplan and get out.

• Check doors with theback of your hand – ifthey are warm, do notopen them – the fire ison the other side.• If there is a lot ofsmoke, crawl along with your nose near the floor where the air will be cleaner.

2 Escaping from a window

• If you are on the groundfloor or first floor you maybe able to escape from awindow. If you have tobreak the window, coverthe jagged glass withtowels or thick bedding.• Throw some morebedding out of the

window to break yourfall. Don’t jump out of thewindow – lower yourselfdown to arm’s length anddrop to the ground.

• If you have any childrenor elderly or disabledpeople with you, plan theorder you will escape inso that you can helpthem down.

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3 Don’t go back insideyour home

• Call the Fire Brigadefrom a mobile phone, a neighbour’s house or a phone box. Give theaddress of the fire. • Don’t stop or go backfor anything.

4 What to do if yourescape route is blocked

• Get everyone into oneroom and close the door.Smoke and fumes cankill people quickly, so putbedding or towels alongthe bottom of the door toseal the gap.• Open the window andstay near it for fresh air

and to let the firefighterssee you.• Phone the Fire Brigadeor shout for help so thatsomeone else can phonefor you.

To save your life in a fire:

✓ if your smoke alarmgoes off in the night don’tinvestigate – wake others

and get out, followingyour plan;✓ don’t open any doorsthat feel warm;✓ don’t stop or go backfor anything – phone the Fire Brigade; and✓ if you can’t get out, stay together in oneroom, close the door and wait to be rescued.

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Other information

If you would like a copy of this leaflet on audiocassette or in Braille, large print or any of thelanguages listed below, please phone 0800 169 1697.

Textphone users should call through Typetalk.

This information is available in the followinglanguages:

Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese,English, French, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian,Japanese, Korean, Polish, Punjabi, Somali, Spanish,Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, Welsh.

For more information, visit our website at:

www.community-fire-safety.org.uk

For more information or advice on fire safety in yourhome, phone your local Fire Brigade. You can find the number in your local phone book.