Hold A Fire Drill—At Home -200 words

Fire drills. They’re a regular part of school routines. Many workplaces hold at least one a year. But when was the last time you had a fire drill in your own home?

That may be where you need one the most. More than 80% of fire fatalities happen at home.

Prevention 1 st Foundation, a 501 ©(3) non-profit organization dedicated to injury prevention, is sponsoring Practice Your Home Fire Drill (www.homefiredrill.org) to encourage all households to maintain a working smoke alarm, create an exit plan, and above all practice a home fire drill twice a year.

Every year, more than 3,100 people die in residential fires, and nearly half were trying to escape when they died. A practiced home fire drill might have saved their lives. But less than 20% of U.S. households have created and practiced a home fire escape plan.

Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommend that all families practice their fire exit plan twice a year. They should also test smoke alarms once a month, even if they are hard-wired or have 10-year batteries. If the alarm uses standard batteries, change them when you change your clocks, or anytime it chirps or beeps on and off, indicating a low battery. Smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years.

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