EVO Installation Guide 123
Appendix E: Fire Escape Planning
The manual should include an “Emergency evacuation plan” – this can be copied or rewritten based on the
instructions of NFPA in the following link:
C) Information on establishing a residential emergency evacuation plan in the event of a fire.
Pull together everyone in your household and make a plan. Walk through your home and inspect all possible
exits and escape routes. Households with children should consider drawing a floor plan of your home, marking
two ways out of each room, including windows and doors. Also, mark the location of each smoke alarm. For
easy planning, download NFPA's escape planning grid (PDF, 1.1 MB). This is a great way to get children involved
in fire safety in a non-threatening way.
•Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home. NFPA
72, National Fire Alarm Code® requires interconnected smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds,
they all sound.
•Everyone in the household must understand the escape plan. When you walk through your plan, check to
make sure the escape routes are clear and doors and windows can be opened easily.
•Choose an outside meeting place (i.e. neighbor's house, a light post, mailbox, or stop sign) a safe distance in
front of your home where everyone can meet after they've escaped. Make sure to mark the location of the
meeting place on your escape plan.
•Go outside to see if your street number is clearly visible from the road. If not, paint it on the curb or install
house numbers to ensure that responding emergency personnel can find your home.
•Have everyone memorize the emergency phone number of the fire department. That way any member of the
household can call from a neighbor's home or a cellular phone once safely outside.
•If there are infants, older adults, or family members with mobility limitations, make sure that someone is
assigned to assist them in the fire drill and in the event of an emergency. Assign a backup person too, in case
the designee is not home during the emergency.
•If windows or doors in your home have security bars, make sure that the bars have emergency release devices
inside so that they can be opened immediately in an emergency. Emergency release devices won't
compromise your security - but they will increase your chances of safely escaping a home fire.
•Tell guests or visitors to your home about your family's fire escape plan. When staying overnight at other
people's homes, ask about their escape plan. If they don't have a plan in place, offer to help them make one.
This is especially important when children are permitted to attend "sleepovers" at friends' homes. See NFPA's
"Sleepover fire safety for kids" fact sheet.
•Be fully prepared for a real fire: when a smoke alarm sounds, get out immediately. Residents of high-rise and
apartment buildings may be safer "defending in place."
•Once you're out, stay out! Under no circumstances should you ever go back into a burning building. If
someone is missing, inform the fire department dispatcher when you call. Firefighters have the skills and
equipment to perform rescues.
Putting your plan to the test
•Practice your home fire escape plan twice a year, making the drill as realistic as possible.
•Make arrangements in your plan for anyone in your home who has a disability.
•Allow children to master fire escape planning and practice before holding a fire drill at night when they are
sleeping. The objective is to practice, not to frighten, so telling children there will be a drill before they go to
bed can be as effective as a surprise drill.
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