Only those lucky few who have managed to survive through a house fire can tell you how horrifying the experience can be. Each year, fire causes death to nearly 5000 Americans, out of which about 80% death is reported from house fire. A house fire can be much more lethal than a Tsunami or a major hurricane because it gives people very less time to save one’s life and family. So, surviving a house fire requires proper planning and regular follow up. Effective home fire safety tips can help you and your family develop a plan and deal with a house fire.

Top 5 Tips to Prevent a House Fire:
Experts caution that house fire can become dangerous in just 2 minutes. It can have the capacity to engulf a house in just 5 minutes. Preventing fire in the first place can go a long way to keep you and your family safe.
Listed below are 5 fire safety tips for your home:

• Draw a Proper Floor Plan: To escape fire, you can draw a plan for each floor.  In addition, all possible doors, windows, stairs, etc. can be marked so that you take a glance at the plan and know the route. Also indicate two escape routes from each room. Everyone in family including the young members should know such escape routes and the way to use them if fire breaks out in the house.
• Practice Escape With Your Family: It is suggested to practice your escape plan with everyone in your family. You can carry out walk-through exercise every week with your family to ensure every member knows what to do. You can also check such routes frequently to make sure that they are safe and can be used in case of a house fire.
• Decide Who Will Take Charge: One of the major fire safety tips that you can take is to decide in advance who will assist the young and the old. If there is any physically-challenged person in your house, he will also need help during house fire.
• Set Up Smoke Alarms: Experts recommend to set up a smoke alarm on each floor, in the bedrooms, near the staircases. It is suggested to check such alarms frequently to make sure that they will work when fire breaks out. Also do not forget to check the batteries every month. Normally batteries can be changed twice every year to ensure proper working of your smoke alarms.
• Keep Your Bedroom Door Closed: You can ask your family members to keep their bedroom door closed when they are asleep. If you have installed smoke alarms in your house, such alarms should awake you inspite of keeping the doors closed. Besides, smoke alarms can give you the required time to escape by keeping out fire and smoke for about 20 minutes.

It is natural to experience fear when there is fire in one’s house. It is also necessary to get over your fear as fast as you can. Keeping your nerve cool can help you and your family escape from fire unhurt. You can start practicing yoga so as to keep complete control over your nerves and use it when needed.

Fire Safety Tips to Teach Children
You may want to share with your children some basic fire facts. These can be the importance of saving themselves from smoke inhalation by covering their mouths and noses with a moist towel. You can show them how to crawl as low to the ground as possible and locate the nearest stairway or a fire escape in case the stairway is not accessible.