Creating a Fire Escape Plan for Your North Dallas Home or Business

Name: SERVPRO of Richardson
Address: 2435 N. Central Expy, Richardson, TX, 75080
Telephone: (972) 690-1414

9/2/2021 (Permalink)

A fire in your home can be terrifying. But familiarity with your fire escape plan can help everyone in a home or business remain calm and save lives.

As careful as we are in our homes and businesses, fires will still happen. Worryingly, there are several causes of fires that are beyond our control. In 2021, wildfires burned across 20,478 acres of land in Texas.

Official government figures show that there are 5.5 deaths and 22.3 injuries for every 1,000 residential fires in Texas. Additionally, after the fire is put out, the problems don’t end for the house or business owner. There’s tremendous work involved to repair fire damage to a property and sort out insurance claims.

Whether electrical, chemical, accidental, or wild, creating a fire escape plan for your North Dallas home or business is crucial.

7 Steps to Creating a Fire Escape Plan for Your North Dallas Home or Business

Let’s look at seven essential elements of a fire escape plan if you live or work in North Dallas.

1. Consider who the plan is for

A fire escape plan must include children, the elderly, and people with special needs or disabilities. Children don’t always hear a fire alarm if they are asleep. But when they are awake, they may panic. People with special needs may also be terrified at the sound of an alarm or may need physical assistance leaving a building. Therefore, your plan must include a designated person to help those in need. Share the plan with everyone involved.

2. Find your exits

Each room should have a minimum of two exits. These can be windows or doors. As you walk through the rooms of your home or office, check for two exits and ensure they’re easily accessible.

3. Create a fire escape map

You can create maps of exit points using a copy of the blueprints or plans. The fire escape plan should be displayed throughout the building. If your home or business has children, you can get the children to draw their own map.

4. Have the correct number of fire or smoke alarms

The National Fire Protection Association recommends a smoke alarm in every bedroom, outside every bedroom, and on every level of the home. For business locations, check the legal number of alarms you need per square foot. To ensure safety, regularly check that fire and smoke alarms are working.

5. Is your home or business address visible?

Emergency responders need to be able to find your address as quickly as possible. So make sure your building number is clearly visible from the street. It’s also a good idea to write down precisely what you will say to the emergency services to explain your location.

6. Have a regular fire drill

Businesses should practice the fire escape plan annually. With children, it is recommended to practice every three months. Practicing how to act during a fire helps to ensure that people remain calm but act immediately. In addition, everybody should know the assembly point outside the building.

7. Always have a backup plan

A backup plan is vital in case you can’t escape from your home or business premises. All doors between you and the fire must be closed, place towels under the door, and head to an exterior window.