Two Ways Out: Making Home Fire Escape Plans During National Safety Month

June is widely recognized as National Safety Month, a time to focus on preventing injuries at home, at work and in the community. One of the most valuable safety projects any household can tackle is also one of the simplest: a home fire escape plan. A house fire can spread very quickly, and smoke can make familiar rooms dark and confusing in moments. Knowing exactly how to get out, and having practiced it, gives everyone in the home a better chance of escaping safely. This guide walks through making a plan and how neighbors can encourage each other to do the same.

Why a Plan Matters

In a fire, there is little time to think. People who have practiced an escape route tend to move faster and make fewer mistakes. A plan also answers questions ahead of time: Who helps the baby? Which window works for the back bedroom? Where does everyone meet outside? Settling those details on a calm summer afternoon is much easier than figuring them out in the middle of the night.

Step 1: Draw a Map of Your Home

Grab a sheet of paper and sketch each floor of your home. Kids are often great at this part. Mark:

• Every room, including bedrooms, bathrooms and the kitchen
• All doors and windows
• Stairways, hallways and back or side exits
• Smoke alarm locations
• Any porches, decks or fire escapes

Living in an apartment or a New England triple-decker? Include the shared hallways, front and back stairs and building exits too.

Step 2: Find Two Ways Out of Every Room

Fire safety educators commonly recommend identifying two ways out of each room, usually a door and a window. For each room on your map, draw arrows for both routes and check them in person:

• Doors: Do they open easily? Is the path to them clear of furniture and clutter?
• Windows: Do they open without sticking? Are screens removable? Are any painted shut?
• Upper floors: If a window is a second exit from a second or third floor, think about whether it leads to a porch roof or fire escape, or whether an escape ladder designed for that purpose makes sense for your home.
• Security bars: If windows have bars, they should have a quick-release mechanism that everyone knows how to use.

Step 3: Choose an Outside Meeting Spot

Pick a specific, permanent spot a safe distance in front of your home where everyone gathers after escaping. Good examples include a particular tree, a mailbox, a light pole or a neighbor’s front steps. A meeting spot means you can quickly tell whether everyone is out, and it keeps anyone from going back inside to look for someone who is already safe.

Step 4: Plan for Everyone in the Household

Think about each person who lives in or often stays in your home:

• Infants and young children: Decide which adult is responsible for each child.
• Older adults: Consider whether bedrooms on the ground floor would be safer, and who will help if needed.
• People with disabilities: Plan around mobility, hearing or vision needs. Some smoke alarms use strobe lights or bed shakers for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Pets: Have a plan, but make clear that people should never go back inside for a pet.
• Overnight guests: Show visitors the exits and the meeting spot.

Step 5: Check Your Smoke Alarms

An escape plan only helps if you get an early warning. Widely shared guidance includes:

• Have smoke alarms on every level of the home, inside each bedroom and outside sleeping areas.
• Test alarms monthly by pressing the test button.
• Replace batteries as the manufacturer directs, and replace alarms that are past their recommended age, often about ten years.
• Make sure everyone, especially children, knows what the alarm sounds like.

Renters who find missing or broken alarms should tell their landlord or building manager promptly. Some local fire departments help residents with smoke alarm questions; it is worth calling the non-emergency line to ask.

Step 6: Teach the Core Rules

Go over these basics with everyone in the home:

1. Get out and stay out. Never go back inside a burning building.
2. Call 911 from outside once you are safe.
3. Crawl low under smoke, where the air is cleaner.
4. Feel doors before opening. If a door or handle is hot, use your second way out.
5. Close doors behind you as you leave to help slow the spread of fire and smoke.
6. If you cannot get out, close the door, put towels or clothing under it, call 911 and signal from a window.

Step 7: Practice, Twice a Year

A plan on paper is a start; practice is what makes it stick. Many fire safety programs recommend a home fire drill at least twice a year. To make it useful:

• Push the smoke alarm test button to start the drill.
• Have everyone use their first route, then practice second routes another time.
• Time how long it takes to reach the meeting spot.
• Try a nighttime drill with older kids so they know what it feels like to wake up and go.
• Talk afterward about anything that slowed you down.

Keep drills calm and positive. For young children, it can help to frame it as practicing a safety plan, like a fire drill at school.

Apartment and Multi-Family Tips

• Learn where all building exits and stairways are, and count the doors from your unit to the nearest exit.
• Never use elevators during a fire.
• Keep shared hallways, back stairs and porches free of bikes, boxes and furniture.
• Report blocked exits, broken exit lights or damaged fire escapes to your landlord or manager. If problems are not fixed, your local fire department or city services line can advise.

Bringing the Whole Block In

National Safety Month is a natural time to encourage neighbors to make plans together:

• Host a short “escape plan afternoon” where families sketch their maps side by side.
• Share a simple printable template in your building or neighborhood group.
• Offer to help an older neighbor test hard-to-reach smoke alarms, if they want help.
• Agree on which neighbors’ steps could serve as meeting spots for nearby homes.

A Fire Escape Plan Checklist

• Draw a map of every floor.
• Mark two ways out of each room and check them.
• Choose an outside meeting spot.
• Assign helpers for kids and anyone who needs assistance.
• Test smoke alarms and fix problems.
• Teach the core rules.
• Practice at least twice a year.

A fire escape plan takes about an hour to create and a few minutes to practice. It is one of the most caring things a household can do for one another, and a great way to mark National Safety Month.