Fire prevention week: prepare and practice safe escape plan with your family

In light of National Fire Prevention Week — October 9-15 — the Elmont Fire Department wants to remind the public to follow the important home fire safety tips in order to keep residents and their loved ones safe. This year’s fire prevention week theme is "Protect Your Family from Fire!"

“A fire can spread very quickly, and knowing how to get out of your home quickly and efficiently can mean the difference between life and death," said Michael Capoziello, chief of the Elmont Fire Department. "That’s why it is critically important for residents to develop and practice an E.D.I.T.H. plan, which stands for Exit Drills In The Home.”

Prepare the house:

Make sure there are two exits for every room.

Keep bedroom doors closed while sleeping.

Ensure that all windows, doors, and other escape options can be opened, even by children.

Install and test smoke detectors and install night lights near the floor to aid escape.

Install and maintain a carbon monoxide detector.

Vacuum your detectors.

Make sure the detectors can be heard with the doors closed.


Create a good escape plan:

Meet with entire family and write down a step-by-step procedure for escape.

Choose a meeting place outside the house after the evacuation.

Emphasize that it’s vital to NEVER go back into the house. Once you are out, stay out!


Practice your escape plan:

Choose a monitor (person) to sound the alarm at the time of the drill.

Utilize your second escape route.

Use a smoke detector as your sounding device.

Use alternate escape routes from every room.

Roll out of bed when you hear an alarm.

Feel doors with the back of your hand for heat prior to opening.

Practice crawling fast and try to improve your time.

Maintain constant contact with the walls.


If you become trapped:

Put closed doors between you and the smoke.

Stuff cracks and cover vents to keep smoke out.

Signal from a window with a flash light or sheet.

When on the phone with a fire dispatcher, if possible, stay on the line so that the dispatcher can inform the firefighters on scene where you are located in the home.