What To Do When Your Apartment Building Catches Fire?

28 Jul What To Do When Your Apartment Building Catches Fire?

There have been a spate of fire accidents of late with stories in the news forcing us to evaluate our safety. Last week , a multi-storied building caught fire and eight persons fell sick after inhaling smoke while a major fire broke out at the Lok Nayak Bhawan in Delhi due to a faulty air-conditioning unit. Having a plan can help you avoid injury and may even save your life in such situations. Read on for some helpful advice of what to do when caught in a fire in an apartment building.

Easier said than done but the first thing to remember when caught in a fire is ‘Keep Calm.’

The first sign of a fire in a apartment building is a blaring fire alarm. But once you see or smell smoke, you should immediately call the fire department and tell the operator where you are in the building.

Head Towards the Exit/Staircase

The core idea is to get outside quickly and safely.If there is no visible smoke in the staircase, use the stairway to exit the building. However if you do find smoke, do not take the risk, close the door of the staircase to contain the fire and head to another stairway.

Find Shelter

If you’re unable to find a safe exit, return to your apartment, or head to other apartments until you find some other place to take shelter and call the fire department. Open windows or stand on the balcony for easy rescue by emergency personnel.

Do Not Rush

If you are in an unfamiliar place where you are not sure of the exit, don’t rush out the first door you see. If you do find an exit door, make sure it’s cool. If it’s hot, do not open it as you could add oxygen to the fire and put yourself in more danger. What you can do is stuff damp towels around the door to prevent smoke from entering your space and call the fire department or try to signal your location to people down below.

Avoid Smoke

Remember, smoke rises up so if you encounter smoke, drop to the floor and crawl under it. If possible cover your nose and mouth with a moist cloth on your way out which will minimize the inhalation of smoke.

Put Yourself First

Time is the essence in such situations and the fire could spread very quickly in minutes. Thus it is dangerous to reach out to the other victims and save yourself at the same time. The best you can do is warn people who are unaware of the fire by yelling ‘fire’ several times as you find your way out.

What Not To Do

• Do not waste your limited time salvaging things or valuables to take with you.
• Do not use the elevator to leave the building as elevators are usually too small to evacuate anyone quickly but mostly the elevator shaft sends smoke straight up through the elevator car and if power is lost while you are in there, then you will be stuck.
• Never go to the roof. Smoke usually rises to the top of the stairway. Doors opening onto the roof are locked and you could be trapped.
• Do not push other people who are escaping with you. Patience at such a time is difficult but shoving may slow everyone down and may even lead to a stampede.

Other Helpful Tips

1. If possible close the door of the room where the fire is and close all other doors behind you as you leave. This will help delay the spread of fire and smoke.
2. Stop, drop, and roll if your clothes catch fire. If your clothes catch fire, immediately stop what you’re doing, drop flat to the ground, and roll around until you put the fire out. Rolling around will smother the fire quickly. Cover your face with your hands as you’re rolling to protect yourself.
3.  If you’re located at a higher-up floor where it may be difficult to notice you, take a white bedsheet and hang it out the window to signify that you need help.

Prevention

Before your landlord/broker gives you the general pitch of the rooms, water, electricity and so on, make sure you ask if there are emergency procedures of the building and if there are fire-extinguishers on every floor. For peace of mind, install Gashound to prevent gas-related fires.  GasHound is a remarkable little piece of innovation which detects the gas leaks and rings out a loud alarm before gas concentrations reach dangerous levels.

Spending a little time and money on prevention is less expensive and safer than dealing with aftermaths of a fire.