Fire Escape Slides – If you are considering advanced options for home safety, then there are certainly a number of accessories that can help keep you and your family safe in the event of a fire or other disaster. In fact, there are several options to add to your home where a fire is concerned.
While it is typically unlikely in the modern age that your home will be at risk of a fire all the time, you should still be prepared and informed about some of these fire safety extras. Click here for the Best-Selling Fire Safety Products.
Fire Escape Slides
This is an inflatable option that inflates in under six seconds. When every second counts in a fire, you want your family to all be able to get out as quickly as they can and as safely as they can. These inflatable fire slides are folded up and compressed into a box that is attached to your home underneath key windows. The idea is to have more than one option from a second (or successive) story so that regardless of which window you use, you can all get out.
The slides are very similar to the same ones used by aviation. When a plane has to make an emergency water evacuation, these slides burst out the doors of the plane and allow even passengers up to five hundred pounds get out quickly. That exact same technology is used on these fire slides for residential use. The best part is that none of the kids can mess with the slides or move them to another part of the house when you weren’t using them. The slides stay right where they are installed until you need them.
Fire Escape Ladders
Sometimes you can’t get out of your house using a door. When the doors to the outside are blocked by fire or falling debris, you have to opt for a window. If that window is on the second floor of your home, do you know how you will get out safely?
For some homeowners, that option might look like a fire escape ladder. These ladders are basic thermoplastic steps connected by either thick ropes or by metal tubing. Some models even have metal tubing covering thick ropes to keep the ropes from burning while the ropes provide excellent support for even the heaviest family member.
Whatever type of escape ladder you choose to invest in, all of them have one thing in common; they hook over a window sill to let you climb down to safety. If your window sills cannot manage the burden of the ladder clenching to the wall below the sill and the sill itself, you might want to consider a different option.
Rescue Backpacks
Along with the fire slides, there are rescue backpacks for people who live in an apartment building with more than three stories. These backpacks can help you descend down the side of the building from seven, fifteen, or twenty-five stories up or less. (Anything higher than twenty-five stories is not going to work with these backpacks.) The one drawback is that they do require an anchor inside your home/apartment that is securely attached. The anchor is where you will clip yourself to the interior while you lower yourself out the window to the ground.
It is akin to rappelling in that there is a very long heavy duty rope attached to the backpack and harness to help you descend. An added accessory to strap to the front of an adult helps you hold on to a baby or small child during evacuation. For anyone that is afraid of heights, you might want to stick to the fire slides instead.
Descent From the Roof
In almost all of the above cases, you would be evacuating from the window. If you can evacuate from the roof of your home without fire consuming the roof first, you may be able to use different equipment for this purpose. Anchors, ropes and harnesses are an option, as are window washers’ equipment. While this certainly isn’t the best option, it beats trying to find a window that is not blocked by fire and debris. Some people even install a “fire hatch” for this very purpose, but that is up to you. You may want to try some of the easier options listed above. Click here for the Best-Selling Fire Safety Products.