OMG It's Smoke and Fire! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Time

Contrary to the helpful, controlled flame we use everyday, once fire is out of control it consumes and grows at a furious pace. In a mere two minutes it can threaten your life, while in just five minutes an entire home may be ablaze. What was a small grease or candle fire a minute ago is suddenly climbing the walls at lightning speed. To make matters worse, you are dazed, surprised and terrified as you watch the fire take on a monster form. Wild fires are noisy, toxic, blinding, and produce thick smoke. You've got to get your head clear, acknowledge this is a major fire, and get moving! There no time to lose!

Answer: What to use to extinguish it

If a fire is quite small, and you are an adult, pay attention to how it started. Cooking grease, paper, electrical cords, your ashtray, a camp fire, a mechanical engine? How it began tells you how to put it out. For instance, when we think fireman, we think water.

But throwing water on a grease fire just splatters hot grease. Fire is complicated, and changes quickly, so learn about different fires, and what to do. In the case of a tiny stove grease fire, for instance, do not move the pan. Instead grab a lid and slide it over the pan, turn the control off, and leave it until cool.

But teach your children this: their ONLY job is to get away from a fire, NOW.

Answer: Walk away! Fast.

Like the soldiers in a Monty Python movie, remember to "Run away! Run away!" though not in the chaotic panic they were in! Use a brisk walk to get away from the fire as fast as you can, going directly to an emergency exit. You can warn others as you go, or pull the alarm if it's near you, but do not risk your life and endanger others by stopping to make a call, take a picture, search for belongings, or try to put the fire out yourself. Day to day, pay attention so you always know where the emergency exits are. You may be the only one who does, enabling others to follow you out.

In short, "Head for the hills!"

Answer: Write and discuss an escape plan

Essential to fire safety is to create and share an escape plan. Be aware of two usable exits, especially from the bedrooms. Install fire alarms and check them regularly. Pair up, assigning each person a buddy to look for at an agreed meeting place outside. Definitely, adamantly agree that no one goes back into a burning home for any reason. Calmly practice your escape plan together.

A fireman told me they often check the freezer for a note. It should be up-to-date, brief, and list all people and pets in the place, with their names. Planning ahead, and practice, may alert you to obstacles you need to work out, and calm your panic should a fire occur.

A plan may save your lives.

Answer: From a safe distance

Some time ago my mom got a call from a young employee out on a repair to a pizza joint. "The place is on fire!" he said. "Where are you?" mom asked. "In the kitchen!" the kid answered. Ah...wait a second. The fire is in the kitchen too, right? Do NOT call from inside the building that is on fire. DO call emergency services, not your boss or your spouse.

The building could explode or collapse, the fire may spread so fast it blocks your exit, and fire can move to your neighbor or your car. You need to get to a safe location outside, then immediately call emergency. You will also think more clearly from a safe location, to answer emergency services questions.

The young man? Mom told him to get out, then call emergency. Which he did.

Answer: Get close to the floor

Get low, and stay as close to the floor as you can. Smoke flows up high along the ceiling. The air may be super-hot, burning your lungs if you inhale deeply. It is full of poisonous gas, so inhaling may disorient you, or make you sleepy. If you see billowing smoke around a closed door, do not open it. If you are trapped in a room, stuff door cracks with cloth, cover your face with your hands or a cloth, and stay on that floor.

Here's where an escape plan is your best friend. You know people who care about you have met together at a designated place outside, your assigned buddy knows you are missing, and firefighters know your location.

Answer: False

False. Windows are often your fastest or only means of escape. Be sure all windows in your home will open, especially upstairs. If you install bars, use a type that releases from inside. Go and register all disabled or elderly residents with your local fire department, especially if they stay in rooms far from exits, or their windows don't open. If trapped during a fire, wave a flashlight or a white cloth in the window. Consider buying a device that breaks window glass, and an interior escape ladder, for upper levels.

Answer: Train them to come when called

Training your pet to come to you when called is perhaps the most important thing you can do for them. In a fire you have only seconds to locate them, or if your safety is threatened, you must leave and rely on firefighters to do it where possible. If Fido dog and yes, Fluffy cat too, will follow a voice calling their name, a life may be saved. Hurrah! Attend an animal obedience class, pick up a book, ask a savvy friend how to do it...pets will come when called if correctly trained. Also, put a collar on pets when you'll be absent, making them easier to catch and carry, and leave carriers near the exit. Put a note on your carrier and in your freezer, saying which vet will house your rescued pet. Without that, often emergency workers have no choice but to take Fido and Fluffy to the pound. I wish "Make sure a fire never happens" was an answer, but we can't guarantee that. We can prepare, and be informed.

Answer: Stand clear, let them work

During a fire people are in all manner of conditions, be it terrified for ourselves and our loved ones, sleepy, dazed, drunken, furious, disbelieving, blaming or heroic. What we are not is trained and experienced, working with a close-knit team, wearing gear, and using equipment, like the fire fighters are. So however ferociously you want to help, what you need to do is stay safe, and stay out of the way.

It can be invaluable to answer firefighter questions, but then step back. There's plenty for you to do. Make arrangements for a place to sleep, a change of clothes, or time off work. Go stand next to that man whose wife is still in the building, or help an owner with a frightened pet.

As for hiding from a fire, please never, ever do that. You'll be hard for rescuers to locate, but toxic smoke could find and kill you. Smoke kills more people than fire.

Answer: An emergency kit

While solid boots, gasoline and pajamas are nice to have in a pinch, they are poor choices for an emergency kit. The primary goal is speed--you want out, fast. If you can grab a bag as you fling yourself out the door, you may save your life, because a stop to look for medicines, eyeglasses, cell phone, cash, credit cards, treasured family photo or snacks for the kids is dangerous.

When everyone is safe, but you can't get back into the house for a while, an emergency bag is a blessing. Many emergency preparedness books, sites and organizations provide excellent recommendations on what to include. Pack it up, include things for your pets, and you'll sleep easier. Fireman Digby Dalmatian will sleep better, too.