Fire Safety
I have a four floor brownstone and my kids sleep on the top floor. There’s a ladder on that floor to the roof hatch but it is not something I can see them climbing and the hatch is hard for even me to open. I’d like to hear what people have done to create a…
I have a four floor brownstone and my kids sleep on the top floor. There’s a ladder on that floor to the roof hatch but it is not something I can see them climbing and the hatch is hard for even me to open. I’d like to hear what people have done to create a fire safety plan for their families. Do you have a fireman come in and guide you through? Do you buy those window ladders? I have extinguishers on every floor and sprinklers, but only on my staircases…is this adequate? Any help is appreciated!
Spring loaded hatch is a good idea. We had our roofing company replace the old one in our building when they did our roof – it is much more secure. I don’t remember the brand, but it is easy to open with a spring loader. You and your kids could do it.
I think practising is good. Kids, even toddlers, generally climb much easier than adults. And I think it is much easier (for kids or adults) to climb up one flight to the roof on an internal ladder than than to be hanging off the side of the building while climbing down much further, while being exposed to potentially falling, and looking down and all.
The tricky part is getting comfortable with stepping onto the roof from the hatch at the top – and this gets easier every time you do it – so do it until everybody is comfortable. To make it easier in a fire, stick one of those stick-on, battery-powered lights up there so there is some light.
I built a bulkhead and stairs to the roof.
http://www.bilco.com
A lot of good ideas. Another thing to consider is getting a Bilco roof hatch. I just had one put in due to the fact that it was too complicated to open the original wooden hatch in an emergency. The Bilco has a one-hand quick release that’s spring loaded. It has a second handle for easy closing. It’s also very secure from the outside. It wasn’t cheap but it helps me sleep at night knowing we can get out that way if needed.
How about smoke & CO alarms near each bedroom?
Don’t block windows or hallways(egress is such a great word).
Practice escape plans with the kids. Always know how to get out in a hurry.
NFN: NO candles in the bedrooms! There have been two fires, one fatal, near my home resulting from THAT source alone. Don’t go looking under a bed with a candle for illumination. Also you do have to tell those religious freaks, yes freaks, who think its necessary to set up an altar in a bedroom and burn a candle all night long (or until the FDNY arrives) that IT IS NOT OK! Remember when people smoking cigarettes in bed caused all the fires? Same thing.
Thanks, Amy. That’s a lot of useful information.
I asked my fireman boyfriend. If your house is on fire, the ladder company will go in and search room to room for people. He said what kids usually do in a fire is hide. So I would guess the first thing to do is to practice what to do in a fire. I have seen fdny have fire safety days, where they have a smoke room and education. His opinion on the ladders- Most people have trouble on a regular ladder. Add panic to the mix and the fire safety ladder could be dangerous. In NY the response times are under 6-7 min. I would think the ladders are more for suburbs with vol. dept. You’d be better off practicing what to do in a fire with your kids and checking your smoke detectors. How many people have actually practiced evacuating? Can exit their house on their hands and knees, blindfolded? I haven’t.
We’re in the same situation (but no sprinklers) and I have nightmares about these things.
First of all, I bought a smoke hood for each of us from FireEscapeSystems.com and they’re in the bedrooms near the beds. My youngest is too young at this point to really understand what it is, but I’ve been working on the six-year-old. They were $40 each when I bought them but the site is now listing them at $50 each.
Second, we bought two escape ladders, one for the second floor and one for the top.
http://fireescapesystems.com/resqladder.asp
We went for the extra cost and bulk of the plastic-covered rungs, which make the ladders less likely to tangle and easier to climb down.
The problem is, there aren’t any out there that fit over these big ol’ brownstone windowsills (the Res-Q-Ladder only works on walls/sills less than 10 inches thick). They give three solutions here:
http://fireescapesystems.com/wide_window.asp
We went with solution #1, and as part of our renovation we’re having two window seats built to hold the ladders, and they’ll already be
attached to the wall, so all we’ll have to do is open the windows and toss them out. We went with this over solution #2 because we didn’t want big metal boxes sitting under the windows, but they’re basically the same thing as what we’re doing.
We have a dormer window on the top floor that would enable us to escape to the roof from the front bedroom, so we’re putting one rescue ladder in the back.
On the second floor, we decided to put the ladder in the front. If the stairway isn’t blocked in the back, then we can get down the stairs to the parlour door. If it is blocked, we go out the front window.
Besides spending about $500 for the ladders and hoods, building nice boxes is going to be expensive. My husband was totally against it, but he never thinks anything bad is going to happen, and I always think it will. I hope to God we never have to use any of it, or that if we do I’m not too panicked to get down the ladder, but I do feel better knowing it’s all there. Of course, if the house catches fire before the renovation is over, then we’re screwed.