Creating a fire escape plan for your home is absolutely essential for keeping your home and family safe. My name is Peter Thorpe and I’ve been fighting fires for over 19 years as a full-time and volunteer firefighter. This is how I would create a home emergency plan for fires:

How a Firefighter Makes a Home Fire Escape Plan

With almost 2 decades of experience in fighting fires, here’s what I would do to create a fire escape plan for my home:

1) Walk through every room in my home

2) Test every smoke alarm

3) Draw a map of the home 

4) Identify every possible escape route

5) Plan for 2 routes out of every room

6) Choose a simple meeting place outside

7) Teach & practice the plan with my family

The most important part of any fire escape plan is that everybody in the home can do it, so keep it simple and don’t forget step 7.

I based this off of good and bad things I saw while fighting fires. It also follows the advice of the US Fire Administration, but has more details that I think are important. 

Here is a breakdown of each step to help you understand how you can make a plan for your home.

How to Create a Home Fire Escape Plan

Step 1 - Walk through every room in your house

Old homes and modern homes all have their own unique challenges for evacuation. By walking through your home you are reminded of each room's layout. 

This step seems unimportant, but I’ve found that taking the extra 5 minutes to do this will make your plan 10 times better. 

Step 2 - Test every smoke alarm

Without working smoke alarms, how will you know you have an emergency and need to escape? Test your smoke alarms when creating your home fire escape plan.

Smoke detectors are your first line of home fire safety defense, make sure they are working. You should test smoke alarms every 6-months to ensure they are always working.

I’ve seen how important smoke alarms are for helping people escape in emergencies. The National Fire Protection Association reports that the death rate is 60% lower in homes with working smoke alarms.

Step 3 - Draw a map of your home

Now that you remember your home's layout and know your smoke alarms are working, it’s time to create your plan.

Draw a map of your home. It doesn’t have to be artistic, or even good, just write it down. It’s important that your plan is written because it helps you and your family remember it easily.

Step 4 - Identify every possible exit

By identifying every exit, you can identify the best escape routes. Be thorough on this step, it will make your plan better.

Most bedrooms will only have two exits, a window and a door. Larger rooms may have many options and you should identify every one. 

Step 5 - Plan two escape routes for every room

In an emergency you and your family will be panicking, I’ve seen people get lost in their home because they didn’t have a plan.

Larger rooms should have routes in different directions so that wherever the fire is you have planned for a quick escape.

Make sure you can actually execute your plan. Place escape ladders in second story rooms. Make sure you can safely break windows to escape.

Step 6 - Choose a simple outside meeting place

Choose a place for your family to meet that is easy to remember and easy for everyone in your family to get to. For example, the mailbox or a streetlight across the street.

Everyone should know to get there quickly to ensure everybody is out of the home safely. Once out, nobody should go back into the home for any reason.

Step 7 - Teach & practice the plan

Now that you have created your plan it’s time to teach it to everybody in your family. Once everybody knows the plan you should practice it regularly. Doing a practice every 6 months to a year.

Practicing doesn’t have to be too serious, but your children should still be able to do what they need in an emergency. If you have a babysitter you might want to teach them the plan as well.

6 Fire Evacuation Safety Tips

When creating and practicing your fire escape plan, keep these 5 tips in mind. These come from my experience and the US Fire Administration (USFA).

Tip 1: Stay low by crawling to escape

Rooms will be around 100 degrees Fahrenheit at the floor and can get well above 600 F at eye level. Smoke is the most deadly part of fire, and smoke always rises. Stay low and move quickly.

Tip 2: Test escape routes with the back of your hand

If you want to leave through a door, test the heat of the door knob with the back of your hand. If the knob is extremely hot, choose an alternate escape route. This will prevent serious burns on the more important parts of your hand, your palm and fingers.

Tip 3: Know your plan by heart

Fires aren’t bright, they fill your home with dark black smoke. If you don’t know exactly how to escape you may get lost. Practice your escape plan often enough to make it a habit.

Tip 4: Close doors at night to slow fire spread

I like to remember this as “Close before you doze”. If the fire spreads slowly, escape will be easier for everybody in the home.

Tip 5: Account for elderly or disabled individuals and pets

Evacuation may be challenging for aging parents or disabled family members. Make sure you plan to help everybody escape. Pets won’t follow your plan, so get them quickly and get out. Animals will act erratically, don’t risk your life for an animal (as sad as it is to admit).

Tip 6: Get necessary supplies today

Second story rooms need a ladder to escape from windows. Children will need some way to break windows if necessary. Smoke alarms must be in working condition. Make sure your family has everything they need to escape today.

How to Create a Fire Escape Plan for My Apartment

If you live in an apartment your Fire Escape Plan should have been created by your apartment owner. Review the posted evacuation routes and ensure you know at least 2 routes out of each room.

According to NFPA 1 Fire Code section 14.9.1, every building should not have less than two escape routes. It is the responsibility of the engineer, contractor, and inspector to follow this code. But it is your job to know how you should escape in an emergency.

People who need to be rescued from building fires often are disabled or just didn’t know how to escape. Make it easier on firefighters and yourself by learning your apartment fire escape plan.

What should I do if my apartment doesn’t have an escape plan?

The short answer is create your own escape plan. The essential things you need are:

• Know two routes out of every room in your apartment

• Know two routes out of the building (escape stairs, hallways, etc)

• Choose a meeting place a safe distance from the building

• Teach & practice with your family

The USFA has tips specific to high-rise residents and tenants. They advise you to pull the fire alarm on your way out, and to use the stairs, not the elevator for your escape plans.

I would use the same 7-step plan above to create an apartment escape plan. The main change is you need to know how to evacuate your room as well as the building as whole. Hallways and stairways will have minimum 1-hour resistant materials if they follow NFPA Code 1. 

When should I put out a fire instead of escaping?

Generally air on the side of safety. Preserving your home is less important than saving your life. 

If the fire is a single item, small and not spreading, plus you have an extinguisher on-hand, then try to put it out while you call the Fire Department. If it isn’t working, evacuate.

OSHA qualifies these as an ‘Incipient stage fire’. This is defined as:

 “in the initial or beginning stage which can be controlled or extinguished by portable fire extinguishers… without the need for protective clothing or breathing apparatus.”

The USFA recommends if you see smoke, get out fast. 

My firefighter experience would give you these qualifications which I call the 5 S’s:

Small

No Smoke

Single Item

Not Spreading

Safety Equipment on Hand

If the fire is larger than a bath towel, or is smoking a lot, then get out. If it is burning multiple things, is spreading, or you don’t have an extinguisher nearby then get out. Keep yourself safe and be smart.

When should I call the Fire Department for a fire in my home?

If you have a fire in your home, call the fire department. You aren’t bothering firefighters by calling, it is our job and we enjoy helping you.

Even a small amount of smoke from a fire can be costly to repair. Residential fires resulted in $11 Billion Dollars in property damage in 2023, most of which was smoke damage.

Evacuate (or extinguish) and then immediately call the fire department. Firefighters can help you put out the fire, test for deadly gasses, and help minimize smoke damage.

Now you know how to create your own home fire escape plan. You now know when to try to extinguish a fire, and even when to call the fire department. From here you just need to take action on this knowledge to make your home fire safe.