what can be done to help reduce the risk of deaths in fires?

I think you need a multi-facet approach to effective fire safety...

Surviving a fire needs to be seen as more than just being aware of it. People need to know - how to be aware of the fire. How to escape it. How to survive and be rescued if they are trapped. How to help the fire service. And probably best of all - how to prevent a fire in the fire place.

For a start, free smoke detectors - and perhaps, free service/battery replacement (and for those who need it, someone to replace the battery) would be a good start! Just as insurance that people have them - and vitally, they're working.

I think the next step is house safety - fire survival. Once the smoke detector has alerted them to a fire - people need to know what to do.

My suggestions would be training in remembering to keep low in smoke. Smoke rises - so crawl. Smoke kills people well before the fire does. Surviving smoke is CRITICAL - people need to know what to do in smoke.

Educating people on an escape plan is another good idea. Get them to draw up a house plan - and then mark TWO escape routes from each room. So if you're asleep and wake to a fire - where can you go? Or if you are in the kitchen and fire breaks out - where to? Two for the simple reason that if one is blocked, you need a second. NEVER use a room that doesn't have two escape routes as a bedroom. Get people to decide where their meeting place is - so you can account for everyone - and if someone is missing, they know who - and can let the fire service know.

Let me put it this way - it's much easier for us if we show at a house fire, to know immediately either everyone is out and safe - or exactly who is missing.

So train people to have a meeting place and take a roll or account for everyone - and let the fire service know who's missing when we show. Also - train people to NEVER go back for anything or even a person. I know that sounds horrible, but we firefighters are specially trained in search and rescue - we can safely enter a burning house and rescue someone left behind.

The other thing is to train people in escape safety. Train people to regularly check bedroom windows can open easily (and you can at least get your head out of them to fresh air and be seen). Train people to NEVER deadlock doors. Deadlocks are a common cause of fire death - people escape the fire, and then are trapped by a deadlocked door.

Another important one is doors. As you are escaping the fire, close all doors behind. It'll stop the smoke following you - and also, the fire will take much longer to burn through a door! If nothing else, it'll limit damage to the house and help contain the fire. But - people need to know if they come to a closed door, to feel it, top to bottom with their hand to see if it's hot - if it is, the fire will probably be behind - so people need to learn not to open it!

People also need to know what to do if they're trapped in a fire. Especially in multi-storey buildings. When a fire alarm in a multistorey building (say an apartment block) goes off, the lifts are set to travel automatically to the ground floor. But there's a risk that if power goes, the lift will stop - so people need to know to not use them.

People need to learn tactics to get either out - or to a safe place to be rescued. To know tricks like covering themselves in a wool blanket to make sure they're safe from heat and flame - and to get to and open (or even break) a window - to get seen and have fresh air. People also need to know most ladder platforms can only reach a maximum of 10 floors - so if they're on the 20th floor, it's no use going for a window - people need to get down to at least 10 and then look for one.

Finally - and probably best of all - prevention. After all, isn't prevention better than cure? :-)

People need to be educated in what starts fires. Things like knowing to NOT use candles - or if they choose to - to watch them and never go to sleep with one burning. Talking of sleep - make sure, before bed, electrical items are off, cigarettes out (and if someone does want a smoke, they need to learn to smoke out of bed where there's no risk of falling asleep). Housefires are quite common in the early hours on the morning - people go to bed, and while they're asleep, things in the house go wrong...so that's why night is so crucial.

People need to be educated that heaters should be turned down or off, clothes dryers and other high risk items off, never leave a stove simmering or candle burning. Even outside - things like backyard bonfires need to be put out or watched - we had a fire last week where a bonfire kept going in the night...the wind picked up and blew embers into the roof - and voila, fire!

At the end of the day...education is the key, I think.

People don't have to be trained as firefighters, leave that to us, but I think people should be trained in the elements of fire "science" we deal with - knowing facts like smoke rises, closed doors stop the travel of fire, etc. Knowing the causes and how to prevent them - and then knowing what to do to escape.

People also need to learn how we as the fire service work - so they aren't afraid to ring us - even for a little fire - we'd rather put out a burning pot than a burning kitchen! Plus - people need to know in a fire, you have to look after number one - it sounds selfish, but if people learnt that we can (and will) go and rescue anyone left behind, then they'll be more likely to look after themselves...our rule is "a dead rescuer is no use to anyone" - and that goes for people in the house, too. Rescue themselves.

So I do understand...and I think the big problem with fire deaths is a lack of knowledge. Primarily - people don't know how to prevent a fire, what to do if one does start, and how to escape and protect themselves. People are so scared of flame they ignore smoke - which kills more. And while people are careful with some things - they forget others (like clothes dryers running at night).

Education is the key!

Make this education compulsory in schools for a start. Then, at adult education centres. Spread it out gradually - run free community sessions, or have initiatives - to make people WANT to come, such as reduced home insurance costs if you attend a course.

Overall - if people learn, they'll know what to do and how to prevent fires...and to ALWAYS call for help if a fire starts, no matter how little!

Yes, but the problem lots of times is the fact that people don't TEST their smoke detectors and replace batteries when they are needed. A group of volunteers could go and remind people to test there detectors and if they don't have one, they can provide one for the home owner. Most new construction have hardwired detectors, so this mainly goes for older areas.

Fire safety classes in schools and churches is another way to educate people about the dangers of failing to take simple steps to protect themselves.

Unfortunately, with fire, everyone seems to take the view of "It won't happen to me."

That could be one solution. Whenever it is "fall back" and "spring forward", good reminder, media outlets mention on the news, that is the ideal day to change the batteries as well. But I hear most housseholds it is not because it is not affordabl enough.

The second thing, family members probably don't make a point of having a meeting place.

Smoking & the trendy use of candles cause way too many deaths. Yes, smoke detectors can save lives, but they only work after a fire starts. Education could prevent many fires before they happen. Because of the dangers (as well as their yucky mess), I no longer accept tenants who smoke. Making cigarette socially unacceptable could save many lives.

Teach fire safety in schools and workplaces. The best way to eliminate a threat is to be proactive about it.

yeah it could but people need to change and keep working batteries in them ,,

we had a fire in our town the people took out the batteries and never replaced them,,

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