Every year there are between 350,000 and 500,000 house fires in America alone. These fires result in huge amounts of property damage, but even more importantly in thousands of deaths every single year. While preventing fires from happening in an ideal first step in not becoming a victim, it’s also important to have an fire escape plan.
Which is why unless you live on the ground floor you should have a fire escape rope ladder ready if needed.
Why You Should Get a Fire Escape Rope Ladder For Upstairs
It seems like pure common sense, but despite that there are large numbers of homes and apartments who simply don’t have a fire escape rope ladder on the upper floors. When the elevators aren’t an option and the stairs down are blocked though, it pays to be prepared.
It isn’t enough to simply have a fire escape rope ladder though; you need to know how to use it. That means you should practice attaching it to the windowsill, unrolling it, and even climbing out once or twice just to get familiar with how it feels. It’s easy enough to do in the day time, but if your first attempt to use your ladder is in the middle of the night when your home is on fire and there’s choking smoke and alarms going off it won’t be anywhere near as easy to do. Muscle memory can go a long way to getting away from the fire safely and in one piece, though.
Test Your Rope Ladder Regularly
As with any fire safety equipment it’s important to test your escape ladder every so often (twice a year should be more than enough) to be sure that it’s ready for action. There is nothing worse than thinking you’ve got a safe way out, then finding out when you need it that your rope has rotted to the point that it won’t support your weight.
