ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – Getting out of your house when it’s on fire may sound simple, but without a plan, that seemingly simple escape may not be so simple and could have deadly consequences.
“Have a family meeting and sit down and draw out a floor plan, a basic floor plan, of your house and note where two ways out are. It’s always important to know two ways out of every room in your house," Roanoke County Fire & Rescue Community Outreach Coordinator said.
The Roanoke County Fire and Rescue Department is promoting fire escape plans after fatal fires in Danville, South Boston and Petersburg last week.
The issue is personal for mother Lindsay McKinnon who lost her two sons in a Roanoke County house fire in 2016.
“We did not," McKinnon said when asked if her family had a fire escape plan at the time. "I remember those coloring books coming home from school and we never had those conversations. That’s one thing I regret and will regret to my dying day.”
Her family now has a fire escape plan and she even helped her friend, who was in the fire with her family in 2016, make one too.
Since the fire, McKinnon has become an advocate for fire safety.
“We practice. We know what to do now. It’s not stop, drop and roll anymore, especially when we’re only given 3 minutes or less to get out," McKinnon said.
If you’re in a room with a closed door, feel the door with the back of your hand.
If it’s warm, find another way out, like a window.
“Second floor or above, we don’t want you to jump," Clingenpeel said. "Waive a t-shirt, throw a stuffed animal out the window.”
If you can get out the door, get down on your hands and knees and crawl to the front door.
Have a meeting place outside, like your mailbox, and call 911 from there.
Simple steps that could be the difference between life and death.
For more fire safety tips, click here.