Preparedness for when

It's still windy here. We've had everything today-rain, hail, sleet , wet snow with the odd bit of sunshine. It's bin day tomorrow but I dare n't put them out overnight like I normally do. I've stuck a post it note on the kettle to remind me to put them out when I get up .

charlies-aunt wrote: »

Sometimes when the SHTF - there isn't time to grab anything.

I've long kept a bag in the car which would cover me for deciding to have a weekend away.
I was in Manchester on business, when the fire alarm went at 4:30 in the morning.
I was outside the hotel when I realised I hadn't stopped to grab a dressing gown or slippers but was in my usual night attire - my skin. Someone gave me a cellular blanket to wrap up in (surprisingly warm).
3/4 of an hour later as we were being allowed back into the hotel I remembered the bag in the boot of my car and fitted a key holder to the car not long after.

Fire Extinguishers
I have a CO2 in the kitchen as well as a fire blanket. I have a Water upstairs at the junction of two of the bedrooms (corner of the landing, between main bedroom and Herself's sewing room). I have a dry powder in the garage though this will be replaced with a CO2 in due course - Dry powder is seriously messy to clean up.
Likely ignition sources for the kitchen are a gas hob (isolation valves under the hob in the cupboard and at the meter (understairs cupboard 2m away) and various electrical appliances.
First floor possible ignition sources are more limited, my office has computers and printers, Herself's sewing room has sewing machine and iron, all rooms have table lights, phone chargers and similar. All electricals are switched off at the wall when not in use. The assumption (and the reason for the Water extinguisher) is that any fire is likely to be secondary to a ground floor cause and therefore structural (wood floors etc)

Escape routes, assuming the stairs are compromised, landing window onto the garage roof (18inch step down, ladder to ground, or GQ's recommended lowering method, or via bathroom window - in addition bathroom has the advantage of a water supply and towels to help seal the bottom of the door against smoke as evacuation this way will be slower.

Typing this I realised I don't have a breakpoint hammer in the main bedroom to take out the double glazed unit (one lives on the windowsill of the landing window) and allow exit to the front of the property - I will be rectifying this today.

I opted for a fire blanket. Fire extinguishers need to be checked regularly and have a shelf life. Though I also do what I can to reduce fire risks as well. In the worst case scenario a fire blanket can be used to cover your head as you exit through a fire.

My OH always checks the fire escape routes in hotels. Fortunately for me, I prefer to use stairs rather than lifts so I usually know where they are too.

At a very early age, we taught the children how to get out in a fire - front door or back door, if we can't get down stairs then out of J's window onto a flat roof extension. We never lock J's window and we always lock the front door and keep the key in the lock. We also each have a torch in our bedside table because the lights may well go out and smoke is disorientating.

Even though the children are now 16 and 18 and obviously get left alone for periods of time (though the 16 year old hasn't been left overnight yet), and need to cook then they still get the fire lecture. I always thought that with people leaving small kids alone - not "what if they get kidnapped" but "what if there was a fire". I thought that in the Madeleine McCann case too - a much more likely scenario.