Homes often catch fire in the winter due to heaters being left on
, or too close to soft furnishings that can overheat and catch on fire. Businesses often have heating or other things that can catch on fire, explode or overheat and cause other things to ignite.
If everyone has undergone fire safety training then the likelihood of serious injury or death is greatly reduced. Not only should people be trained in emergency evacuation procedures, but they should also have fire extinguisher training. When someone knows how to handle a fire extinguisher properly fires can often be controlled before they get so far out of hand that they destroy the whole building.
In families, both parents should understand how to use a fire extinguisher, and older children can also be taught in case the fire breaks out when their parents are not home. In a business one or two people should be designated to be on the fire extinguishers, otherwise there could be a rush for them and everyone will be in each others way. Several trusted employees or leaders should have specific jobs such as seeing that all staff has been alerted, and taking a roll call after they have gathered at a designated spot.
Emergency evacuation procedures should be practiced until all know what the drill is and can proceed without panic. Evacuation should be accomplished in a specific time frame - the quicker the better. At the same time, there should not be so much haste that people are likely to be knocked down and trampled on.
Families should drill together and all children taught what escape route to follow and how to keep down near the floor to escape the smoke. They should be trained where to gather and older children should have jobs such as roll-call and taking care of the younger children once they are out.