The Most Important Thing Every Family Should Have in the Event of a Fire
Pacific Coast Home Services Offers Safety Tips as a Part of National Fire Safety Month

SAN JOSE, Oct. 21st, 2020 – October is National Fire Safety Month, and Pacific Coast Home Services is celebrating it by providing a series of safety tips that homeowners should know. This is the last of five releases with helpful information, and it discusses an important topic: having a clear escape plan for a family.

When fires occur, often people only have a few minutes to react. In those instances, it’s important that every family member understands how to quickly and safety evacuate a burning home. Any hesitation can cost a person their life.

Here’s what every family should do to protect their loved ones in the event of a fire:
• Make a plan for immediate escape from every room in your home that takes into consideration the ages and abilities of every member of your household. Infants and others who cannot get out on their own will need help from a family member during drills and in a real fire emergency.
• Try out all windows and doors to see that they are easily opened in case they’re needed as an escape route.
• Remove hazards like heavy furniture or free up stuck windows that may interfere with a quick exit.
• Consider buying fire escape ladders for use if a back-up escape route is upper story windows. (Practice deploying ladders from ground-floor windows during drills.)
• Agree on a meeting place in front of and a safe distance away from your home.
• Teach children the fire department emergency number, 9-1-1, and make sure they understand that they must get out first and then call for help.
• Practice your escape plan and make adjustments if anyone is not successful in being alerted and quickly exiting to your meeting place.
• Once everyone is comfortable with the escape plan, hold a drill when they are sleeping. Young children especially can often sleep through the loud smoke alarm signal. Find out if your child awakes to the alarm signal; if not, assign a family member to awaken the child for drills and in case of a real life emergency.
• Plan to practice again in a few months.
• If anyone in the family cannot awaken to the signal of the alarm, regardless of age, assign a buddy to that family member to help awaken them for drills and in case of a real life emergency.

For more information on Pacific Coast Home Services, please visit www.pc-homeservices.com or call (408) 508-6372.