We are fast approaching the anniversary of my brother and nephew's deaths.

So I am going to take this moment to ask you all if you have planned your escape route from your house in case of fire. Do the kids know the plan?

Is the battery working in your smoke alarm? Is there even a battery in your smoke alarm, or did the beeping annoy you?

What will you do if your stairs are alight?
If the grandkids are staying over, do they know the plan? Which adult is getting which child?

Where do you keep your house keys at night? Could you find them if there was smoke and fire?

Do you shut the kitchen door when you go to bed? That was what the fire brigade said would have made most difference for my family.

Do you turn electrical appliances off at the wall, especially the ones you bought from somewhere online?

Have you walked through your escape plan? You need muscle memory to kick in when the panic of an emergency situation hits.

Please, if you could think about these things and make changes if you need to it would mean that something good has come from our tragedy. I never want anyone else to have to go through this.

#Fire #FireSafety #Emergency

@PetraPhoenix If it helps to know, we do. We even have only one shelf of photos and albums not replaceable as the “if time to grab take this shelf”. We also have auto-extinguishers by charging areas specifically meant to work for electronic / battery fires which is our primary likely fire source as we use a lot of rechargeable batteries here. So charging occurs in a cabinet with the auto-extinguishers installed. Our heat is mostly wood heat, so we also have a chimney snuffer right on hand whenever in use (also we keep the creosote cleaned out). We also keep our dryer vent cleared out (last stat I saw was something like 30% of us house fires start from lint buildup in that tube!)

Posting mostly so others know this stuff exists and a reminder to check your chimneys / stove pipes / lint traps & hose lines regularly!