If your house is on fire, how many minutes do you think you have to get out alive?
If you’re like 80 percent of Americans surveyed, you’ll say five or 10 minutes. Wrong. According to Underwriters Laboratories, which conducts state-of-the-art fire safety testing, you have three minutes or less. “Most people underestimate the speed and power of fire and smoke,” according to the National Fire Protection Association. You shouldn’t fumble with the fire extinguisher, grab your photo albums or even rescue your cat. GET OUT!
That’s what Audra Fordin did when a faulty electrical wire started a devastating fire in her Roslyn Heights, New York, home. “When my husband yelled ‘fire,’ my body went into ‘go’ mode,” said Fordin. “I scooped up my three children and flew outside, hurdling 18 steps and two landings.” Fordin says she would not have known to act so fast had it not been for a kindergarten project of her daughter’s that required the family to do a home fire drill.
UL says that 30 years ago, you had up to 17 minutes to escape a house fire, but today’s homes burn faster. Why? Open floor plans provide oxygen and don’t provide barriers. And synthetic building materials and furnishings burn at a much faster rate than the natural products used decades ago. UL videotaped a dramatic side-by-side experiment that showed how rapidly a modern living room went up in flames compared with a vintage one.