Fire

Actions

• Test smoke alarms monthlyEssential

  Alarms fail quietly — dust, dead batteries and age are the usual culprits. Hold the test button once a month until the siren sounds, swap replaceable batteries about once a year, and replace the whole unit after roughly ten years, the typical sensor lifespan.

• Plan two ways out of every roomEssential

  Thick smoke can block your usual door within minutes, so every room needs a second way out — often a window onto a balcony, garage roof or low ground floor. Walk your home room by room, agree both routes, and make sure everyone can open the window locks. Revisit the plan whenever the layout or household changes.

• Keep escape routes and exits clear of clutter

  Escaping in blinding smoke happens by feel, and anything left in a hallway becomes a trip hazard exactly where you can least afford one. Keep corridors, stairs and doorways permanently free of boxes, shoes and bikes, leave a key by every lockable door on your route, and walk the route as a check every few months.

• Unplug unused devices and never charge on beds or sofas

  Lithium batteries and cheap chargers can overheat and ignite, and bedding traps that heat until it does. Charge phones, tablets and e-bike batteries on a hard, non-flammable surface while you are awake nearby, unplug chargers and heat-producing appliances after use, and never daisy-chain power strips.

• Clear dry vegetation and firewood away from outside walls

  Flying embers, not the fire front, ignite most homes in a wildfire — and they land in dry leaves, gutters and woodpiles against the wall. Before each dry season, remove dead vegetation within several metres of the house, clear the gutters, and move firewood and gas cylinders well away from the walls.

Supplies

• Fit smoke alarms on every floor and in bedroomsEssential

  Smoke kills sleeping people before flames reach them, so early warning is the biggest life-saver. Choose alarms certified to EN 14604, mount them on the ceiling mid-room, and prefer sealed 10-year battery models. In Germany, bedrooms, children's rooms and hallways are legally required locations.

• Keep a fire blanket in the kitchen

  Water on burning fat explodes into a fireball — turn off the heat and smother the flames with a fitting lid or fire blanket. Choose a blanket certified to the current standard EN 1869:2019 and mount it visibly near the kitchen exit, not above the cooker. Blankets are single-use: replace after use.

• Fit a carbon monoxide alarm near fuel-burning appliances

  Carbon monoxide from a boiler, stove or fireplace is invisible and odourless, and smoke alarms cannot detect it — both are needed. Choose an EN 50291-1 certified unit, place it 1-3 m from each fuel-burning appliance at head height or 15 cm below the ceiling, and replace it by its end-of-life date, typically 7-10 years.

Skills

• Practise the escape plan twice a year, once in the darkEssential

  A plan only works if your body knows it — walk the full route twice a year, once with the lights off, since most fatal fires happen at night. Crawl low where smoke would sit, close doors behind you and time the run; children who have rehearsed are far less likely to hide in a real fire.

• Learn stop, drop and roll

  Running feeds burning clothes with air, so the flames must be smothered instead. Rehearse until it is automatic: stop where you are, drop down covering your face with your hands, and roll until the flames are out. Practise it with children as a game — under stress, people only do what they have done before.

Know & check

• Agree one outside meeting point for everyoneEssential

  One fixed point tells you immediately whether anyone is still inside — the first thing firefighters will ask. Pick a spot everyone can name, such as a lamppost or a neighbour's gate, at a safe distance from the building, and agree that nobody ever goes back in for people, pets or belongings.

• Save 112 and teach children how to callEssential

  112 reaches fire, medical and police help free of charge everywhere in the EU. Teach children to call it only once safely outside, to say their name and address slowly, and to stay on the line until told to hang up — practising the sentences aloud makes them stick under stress.