Fire services across the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) are promoting fire safety this week for the annual Fire Prevention week, which runs October 9-15, 2022. This year’s awareness campaign is 'Fire won’t wait. Plan your escape', which aims to educate everyone about simple but important actions to keep themselves and those around them safe from home fires.
Throughout the week, local fire services will be visiting schools to conduct fire drills, engage with students, and promote age-appropriate fire education that they can practice at home with their families.
Brockville Fire Department is sharing some tips that children and their families can practice and enact.
- Make a home escape plan. Draw a map of your home showing all exits and discuss the plan with everyone in your home.
- Know at least two ways out of every room, if possible. Make sure that all windows and doors leading outside open easily.
- Have an outside meeting place a safe distance away from the home.
- Practice home escape plans at least twice a year (night and day).
- Close doors behind you as you leave the home. This slows the smoke and fire from spreading.
- If the smoke alarm sounds, get out and stay out. Never go back inside, until someone from the fire department says it’s safe.
- If you need to escape through smoke, get low and go under the smoke until you are safe.
- Call 911 when you’re outside of the home.
- Test smoke alarms every month, change batteries at least once per year, and replace alarms after 10 years.
With flammable and combustible materials in our homes, fire travels fast and spreads quicker than ever before. You may have only two minutes or even less time to safely escape a house fire from the time the smoke alarm sounds. Your ability to get out of a home during a fire depends on the early warning from smoke alarms and planning.
Learn more about fire prevention and discover activities at the National Fire Protection Agency.