House and apartment fires: how to prevent them and get out safely

A fire in a home can spread in a few minutes. Most often, people don’t die from the flames but from toxic smoke that catches them asleep. Fire services everywhere report the same main causes year after year: faulty or overloaded electrics, smoking, chimneys that haven’t been swept, heaters left unattended and cooking.

Prevention: the things that matter most

• Fit smoke alarms in the hallway and bedrooms. Test them monthly.
• Fit a carbon monoxide alarm if you have a gas boiler, stove or wood burner.
• Don’t overload sockets. Daisy-chained extension leads and high-power appliances (heater, air conditioner, oven) on one socket are a common cause of fire.
• Don’t leave running unattended: the stove, candles, heaters or chargers for e-scooters and e-bikes.
• Have the chimney swept before every heating season if you have a stove or fireplace.
• Don’t smoke in bed.
• Keep matches and lighters away from children.
• Don’t block hallways and stairwells with bikes, cupboards or boxes: they are every resident’s escape route.

The escape plan

Draw a plan of your home with your family and mark two exits from each room, where possible. Agree a meeting point outside, in front of the building. Practice at least once, including with your eyes closed, so you can find the way in the dark and through smoke.

When a small fire starts

If the fire is small (a waste bin, a pan) and you have a way out behind you, you can try to put it out:

• Burning oil in a pan: turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid or a fire blanket. Never throw water on it: the hot oil explodes and spreads the flames across the kitchen. Don’t move the pan.
• An electrical appliance: unplug it or switch off the power at the panel, then use the dry powder extinguisher. Never use water on live equipment.
• Clothes on fire: stop, drop and roll, covering your face with your hands.

Using an extinguisher: pull the pin, aim the hose at the base of the flames, not the top, squeeze the handle and sweep from side to side.

If the fire isn’t out within a few seconds, get out immediately and call the emergency number.

When you have to get out

1. Shout “Fire!” to alert everyone.
2. Stay low, or crawl. The cleaner air is near the floor.
3. Before opening a door, put the back of your hand on it. If it’s hot, don’t open it: the fire is on the other side. Use another way out.
4. Close doors behind you. A closed door slows fire and smoke.
5. Don’t go back for belongings or pets.
6. Use the stairs, never the elevator.
7. Call the emergency number from outside and say whether anyone is still inside.

If you can’t get out

In an apartment building, if the stairwell is full of smoke, it’s often safer to stay in your apartment:

• close the front door and put wet towels along the bottom;
• turn off ventilation and air conditioning;
• call the emergency number with your address, floor and apartment number;
• go to a room with a window facing the street and make yourself visible (flashlight, a light-colored cloth);
• open the window only if smoke isn’t coming in from outside.

Don’t jump from upper floors. Wait for the firefighters.

Prevention checklist

• Smoke alarms in the hallway and bedrooms, tested this month
• Carbon monoxide alarm near the boiler, stove or wood burner
• Extinguisher by the exit, and I know how to use it
• Fire blanket in the kitchen
• No daisy-chained extension leads
• Chimney swept in the last year
• Hallways and stairwell kept clear
• The family knows the escape plan and meeting point