Survival Scenario: What to do When a Building Catches on Fire

How Common are Fires 

In 2010 there were 362,100 residential fires in the USA that caused $6.65 billion in damages.  According to the US Census there are 131 million housing units in the US and 114 million households.

As far as frequency you could figure that 0.317% of households experienced a fire in 2010.   Or we could say that 0.276% of housing units had a fire in the year.  With 362,100 fires and $6.65 billion in damages that means the average property damage from a fire was $18,365.  That is not much, but with the long stretch of drought over the last few years, fires have been increasing more threatening.  Just looking at this stunning picture of how dry California has been this year.  

Look at some of these stunning pictures of drought in California:

A drought is made worse when snowfall falls dramatically short.  You can see that the snow is much less then just the previous year.

This means that fires are much more likely and more difficult to fight when they do happen.  

What causes home fires? 

FEMA's US Fire Administration site also has data on the causes of fires.   Here are the causes of residential fires ranked by %.

Cooking	46%
Heating	13%
Electrical Malfunction	7%
Other Unintentional, Careless	7%
Open Flame	5%
Intentional	4%
Equipment Malfunction	4%
Other Heat	4%
Appliances	2%
Smoking	2%
Exposure	2%
Natural	2%
Other Equipment	1%
Investigation with Arson Module	1%
Playing with Heat Source	1%

Looking through that list, there are not a lot of causes that you can easily avoid.  Not smoking and not intentionally burning down your own home only accounts for about 6% of the fires.

What todo When a Building Catches on Fire

• Cover your mouth with a wet cloth.  A wet cloth will help to keep dirt and debris out of your lungs.  Breathing through your nose will help you to filter your air.

• Try to find a safe exit:  This is obvious, but it can become more difficult in a stressful and dangerous situation.  It is best to use mental mapping--or the process of planning out a route of escape before it is necessary.  

• Feel a door before exiting with the back of your hand: If it is cool, then slowly open it.  If you see smoke coming through or under the door, do not got through the door.  

• If the room/buidling you are in is smokey, crawl on the ground.  

• If you are trapped in a room: block the cracks in a door with whatever available.  A wet towel or sheet is ideal.  Put a mattress infront of the door, holding it inplace with a piece of furniture

• Turn off the vent and/or shut off the ventilation.  

• Remove the burnable debris from the window area.

• Open the window a carck to get fresh air.  If you open the window to much, it will feed the fire.