What is a Fire Escape Plan ?

1. What is a Fire Escape Plan?

Things catch fire in a house or a building without warning or someone's mistake. Having a fire escape plan and smoke alarms is essential in getting you to safety when there is a fire in your house. A fire escape plan depicts the correct and safe routes you can take to escape the fire. Most people take fire safety for granted and don’t bother to make an evacuation plan because they think it can never happen in their house. Small things such as a short circuit or a curling iron can start a big fire that can burn your house or damage the structure of a building because the fire spreads rapidly.

A fire escape plan is essential for everyone, even if you think you are tough and will not panic during an emergency because smoke and a scary atmosphere are enough to make you panic and freeze you before you try to escape. With an escape plan, you will be calm and take the correct safety precaution to leave your house during a fire. Make a floor plan of your home with a marked safe route and at least two ways out of the room in case of a fire.

2. Escape Planning Tips

Tip 1: Make a Plan

Make a fire escape plan together with your family members to help them familiarize themselves with it and get everyone's opinion. You should make a floor plan of your house or building and mark a safe way during any emergency.

When you make an escape plan, make sure there are two ways out of every room if the door is locked and you can't get out. The second way includes a window and a ladder. Make sure to check all the windows so you can open them easily during a fire.

Teach your kids and family members how to stay low and move to exit in case of an emergency. Tell them how to close doors to block smoke or get fresh air and tell them what things can help them during a fire.

After you plan and teach your family how to act during an emergency, make sure to practice the escape with your family. Get your family to do fire escape drills twice a year to make sure they remember everything.

Tip 2: Talk to Your Kids and Everyone

Making a fire escape plan together with your kids and family members is important because kids under seven or six years old will not be able to take themselves out of the house or follow the correct precautions during an emergency.

Teach your kids how to act if there is a fire in the house or the smoke alarm goes off. Tell them to follow the escape plan and get out of the house immediately after hearing the smoke alarm. Remind them not to go to a burning house.

Talk to family members and decide who will carry the kids outside in an emergency. Teach your kids how to check if there is a fire outside the door with the back of their hand. Show them how to use the ladder and where you find them.

Tip 3: Do a Home Fire Drill

You can conduct a home fire drill at least twice a year to help your kids, and family members practice how to escape during an emergency. Before the drill begins, make sure your kids know where to go after getting out of the house.

To stay safe, check your smoke alarms regularly to see if all of them are working properly. Install smoke alarms in the bedrooms, outside the bedrooms and other areas in the house. After going over these things, it is time to start the drill.

Start the drill by sending the kids back to their rooms and assigning adults to do their tasks. Discuss who will accompany the kids who will start the smoke alarm. Tell your kids and everyone to get out of the house and reach the safety point in under two minutes. After getting to safety, make an emergency call and ensure everyone is together.

3. How to Create a Fire Escape Plan

3.1 Steps to Create a Fire Escape Plan

When creating a fire evacuation plan, keep a few things in mind, such as the escape route windows in every room, and don't forget to conduct an escape drill. Follow these steps to create a perfect fire escape plan that is easy to understand and suitable for every member of your family.

• STEP 1: Start by making a floor plan of your house or building to create an escape route. Make two escape routes for each room. Check the doors and windows and ensure everyone knows how to get the ladder and leave from the window.
• STEP 2: The keys of every window and door must be near or inside the lock so you can open it easily in case of an emergency. Make sure nothing is blocking the window or door exit.
• STEP 3: Decide a meeting point that is a safe distance away from the house, such as the mailbox or your neighbor’s house. Assign duties to every adult in the place to make sure all the kids or any disabled person gets out safely.
• STEP 4: Remind your kids to never go inside a burning house and make sure no adult does that as well. After you get out safely, calm yourself down and ensure everyone is with you.
• STEP 5: After everyone gets to the safety point, make sure to stick together and call the helpline.

3.2 Get Started Quickly with a Fire Escape Plan Maker

After you understand the logic behind a fire escape plan, the next step is to create the plan using templates and diagramming software. EdrawMax Online is the best fire escape plan maker because of its user-friendly interface and comprehensive collection of free templates. It also comes with a symbol library and many unique customization tools. EdrawMax lets you export your diagram in any format you want, and you can create more than 280 types of diagrams with it. Here are the steps to create an escape plan on EdrawMax.

• STEP 1: Log in to EdrawMax Online or create a new account.
• STEP 2: You can make your diagram using a template or open a blank canvas to draw it from scratch. Go to new, and click on the building plan category. Select floor plan and click on the "+" button to get a new canvas, or select a template to edit it right away.

• STEP 3: The next step is to customize your fire escape plan. Go to the symbols library and insert icons and symbols with a simple drag and drop. Add connecters to visualize the relationship between components. Align your diagram, adjust the layout, and style it by changing fonts. Customize it using drawing tools, auto themes, and color fill.
• STEP 4: After your diagram is complete, the next step is to download it. EdrawMax Online supports various document formats, so you can export in any format you want. You can also share and print it.

Watch this video to learn more about how to create a fire escape plan. If the video doesn't play, please visit it at YouTube.

4. Free Fire Escape Plan Templates

You can create fire escape plans by writing everything down on a paper which is hard to understand, or you can use free templates to create your fire escape plan to depict every detail and graphically represent every step of an emergency escape. Using a template also saves your time and effort. Here are some free fire escape plan templates.

Example 1: Fire Evacuation Plan

A fire evacuation plan is essential for office and residential buildings, and it helps residents and employees evacuate the building in case of a fire or any other emergency. The diagram in this example graphically represents the escape route and the structure of the building, and anyone can read it easily and get to the fire exit. There are also some symbols representing the fire hose or first-aid kits in the building.

Example 2: Home Evacuation Plan

This is an example of a standard home evacuation plan. The drawing is simple, and some labels make it easier to understand for everyone. Red dotted arrows represent the escape route for every room. During an emergency, anyone can evacuate their room using two paths. The escape plan gives a view from above the house. You can use this template and edit it to create your fire escape plan.

Example 3: Fire Escape Plan for Kids

The fire escape plan for kids in this example graphically represents the overhead view of a kindergarten ground floor. It depicts each room and component on a scale, and the connections between all the rooms and other areas are easy to understand. Kids occupy kindergarten, so while making this plan, make sure it is simple, and small kids can easily follow it. Don't add much text and give every detail using symbols and drawings.

5. FAQ About Fire Escape Plan

1. What are the key elements of a fire escape plan?

The key elements of a fire escape plan are the windows, doors, hallways, and stairs. Create a fire escape plan with two exit routes in every room. Use arrows to depict the standard escape route, which everyone can use to leave from opening doors. Use other arrows to show the path from windows. Decide a safety point outside the house and conduct home fire drills.

2. What are the 4 types of evacuation?

The four types of evacuation are building evacuation, city evacuation, stay in place, and campus evacuation. People use fire escape plans to evacuate buildings during a fire or in case of any emergency. The authorities hand out evacuation plans to get everyone to safety in a city evacuation. Stay in place evacuation is due to a biological attack or pandemic. In campus evacuation, students safely leave the campus in an emergency.

3. What is a good emergency plan?

A good emergency plan includes details about every step to escape during an emergency. It contains a proper floor plan with a marked escape route that kids and adults can easily understand. It also includes means of communication between every member of the family. For a good emergency plan, keep the emergency helplines on speed dial.

6. Key Takeaways

A fire escape plan graphically represents the structure of your house or building and marks a safe escape route that you can use during a fire or an emergency. Every family needs to have an evacuation plan because accidents happen without warning. To make an escape plan, draw a floor plan of your house, talk with your kids and family members, and conduct escape drills at least twice a year. EdrawMax Online is an excellent fire escape plan maker with free templates and a library with thousands of symbols and icons. It also supports all document formats. Go to EdrawMax and get started right now.