How to Make a Fire Escape Plan

Working smoke alarms will warn you of a fire, but fire and rescue services are clear that alarms alone are not enough: you should also make a fire escape plan¹. The national Fire Kills campaign makes the same point, advising households to fit working smoke alarms in more places in the home and to plan and practise an escape plan². An alarm buys you time; the plan is what tells everyone what to do with it.

The reason a plan matters so much is smoke. Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service warns plainly that smoke is poisonous and can kill you, and that smoke and fumes can quickly overcome anyone, which is why everyone should leave immediately³. In a real fire you may have seconds, not minutes, and you will not be thinking clearly. A household that has agreed its routes, its keys and its meeting point beforehand acts on instinct instead of improvising.

A fire escape plan does not need to be complicated. Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service says it only takes about 5 minutes to create a home fire escape plan, and its online planner walks you through it⁵. This page sets out what every UK household should put in that plan, how to adapt it for flats and high-rise buildings, how to talk to children about it, and what to do in the moments when the plan has to work.

What a fire escape plan contains

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service breaks a home fire escape plan into five parts: who is in your plan, meaning the people you live with; what your main escape route is; what your back-up escape route is; where to gather once you are outside; and which room can act as a refuge if you cannot escape⁵. That structure works for almost any home, and it is worth writing the answers down rather than holding them in your head.

Around those five parts, fire and rescue services add a set of habits that make the plan work in practice:

• Keep door and window keys where everyone in the home can find them, and avoid keeping them in the kitchen, because this is where most fires in the home start⁴
• Keep hallways and doorways free from clutter, including communal areas if you live in a flat, and report discarded rubbish to your landlord⁹
• Make sure everyone knows what to do when they hear a fire alarm or carbon monoxide alarm, and how to escape from every bedroom at night¹⁰
• Keep vital documents somewhere easy to find¹⁰
• Review the plan regularly, and whenever the layout of your home or the people in it changes⁹

The bedtime routine deserves a mention here. South Wales Fire and Rescue Service publishes an escape plan template and bedtime routine that includes simple nightly checks, such as putting fireguards around open fires and not building up the fire before going to bed¹¹. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service similarly advises a bedtime route and escape plan, on the reasoning that fires at night, when everyone is asleep and alarms are the only warning, are the ones where a plan matters most¹². If you keep keys out of the kitchen, clear the hallway and know your routes before you sleep, the plan is already half done.

Plan a main route and a back-up route

Your main escape route is the normal way out of your home: usually the hallway and the front door. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service advises planning a second escape route in case the first one is blocked⁶, and Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service advises making sure everyone knows the quickest way out and considering an alternative¹³. The point of the second route is that fire is most likely to start in the kitchen or living room, exactly the rooms your main route may pass through.

Walk both routes with everyone in the household, including at night and in the dark. Wiltshire and Swindon Prepared advises identifying your nearest and best exits, including how you would escape from each bedroom, and asking yourself which window you might escape from in a fire¹⁰. Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service adds a simple test: plan an escape route and make sure everyone knows how to escape¹⁴.

Two rules apply whichever route you take. First, close doors behind you. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service advises that if there is a fire in your home, you should close the door where the fire is, because this helps protect your escape route and stops the fire spreading so quickly⁸. Second, do not stop for valuables, and never try to tackle the fire yourself¹². North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is direct about this: keep calm, act quickly, and get everyone out as soon as possible¹².

Check closed doors before you open them

On your way out you will meet closed doors, and each one is a question: is the fire behind it? The advice from every fire and rescue service that addresses this is the same. The London Fire Brigade's easy-read fire safety booklet instructs: "Use the back of your hand. Leave the door closed if it feels warm or hot."⁷

The reason for the back of your hand is that it is more sensitive to heat than your palm, and it protects you from the reflex of gripping a hot handle. The national Prepare campaign states the rule plainly: before you open a door, check if it is warm, and if it is, do not open it, because fire is on the other side¹⁵. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service uses the same wording when advising parents and child carers¹⁶.

If a door is warm or hot, do not go through it. Turn back and use your second escape route. If that too is blocked, you move to plan B, which is to protect yourself in a room and wait for rescue. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's guidance is categorical: never open a door if it is warm to the touch⁸. Teach this to children as part of the plan, because a child woken by smoke will reach for the nearest door.

Plan B if you are trapped: block the smoke and stay put

If both your routes are blocked, the advice changes from escaping to protecting yourself, and it is consistent across the UK's fire and rescue services. London Fire Brigade's guidance for blocks of flats advises finding a safe room as far as possible from any fire or smoke, with a window if possible, closing the door and using soft materials to block any gaps to stop the smoke¹⁷. Manchester Fire and Rescue Service gives the same steps for a house: if your escape route is blocked and you cannot escape through a window, call 999 immediately, find a room to wait in, open a window, put cushions and bedding around the bottom of the door, and keep low to the floor if smoke enters¹⁸.

The steps in order:

1. Get everyone into one room, ideally one with a window that opens, as far from the fire as you can¹⁹
2. Close the door and put bedding, cushions, towels or clothes along the bottom of it to block the smoke¹⁹
3. Open the window and stay close to it for fresh air⁷
4. Call 999 if you have a phone, and be ready to describe where you are⁶
5. Shout "FIRE" and "HELP" from the window as loudly as you can¹⁹
6. Wait to be rescued, and keep leaning out of the open window for fresh air until firefighters arrive⁸

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service describes this as the plan B conversation to have with children: when you feel a door and it feels hot or warm to the touch, you must not go through it, and instead you block the bottom of the door with bedding, cushions or blankets, stand by an open window, shout for help, and dial 999 if you have a phone¹⁶. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service adds that if your escape is blocked by fire, it may be safer to stay put until the fire service arrives²⁰. This is not giving up: a closed, sealed door between you and a fire, with fresh air from a window and firefighters on the way, is a survivable position.

Where windows must not be used as an escape route

Windows are a back-up route, not a first choice, and there is a hard limit on when to use them. Manchester Fire and Rescue Service advises that you should only try to escape through a window if you are on the ground or first floor, under 3 metres in height, and your escape route is blocked; if you are higher up, wait to be rescued by firefighters⁴. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service says only ever try to escape from a first floor window if you have no other choice²¹, and suggests thinking in advance about how you would do it, for example by climbing out onto a garage roof or extension and getting down safely¹⁹.

If a window escape from the ground or first floor is your only option, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service advises throwing bedding or cushions out first to break your fall⁶. Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service agrees that if you are on the ground or first floor, you may be able to escape through a window¹⁴.

Two further rules sit alongside this. Do not use a balcony to escape unless it is part of an official escape route²⁴. And once you are out, never go back inside: Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service says do not go back in for anything³, and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service says never try to go back inside until a firefighter tells you it is safe⁸.

Escape plans for flats: never rely on the lift

If you live in a flat, the same principles apply with one addition that changes everything: the lift. Oxfordshire's guidance is blunt that if you live in a flat, the lift will be out of action if there is a fire, so choose an escape route that does not require one¹. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service all give the same instruction in the same words: use the stairs, never the lift⁶.

If a fire starts inside your flat, the advice is to leave the same way you normally would, but by the stairs. London Fire Brigade's easy-read booklet gives the sequence: leave the flat, close all doors on your way out, do not use the lift⁷. Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, for flats operating an evacuation strategy, adds that you should never try to fight the fire yourself, that you should close the door to the room where the fire is where it is possible and safe, alert people in the flat, activate any manual alarms, call 999 and stay on the phone whilst evacuating⁹. South Wales Fire and Rescue Service adds a practical step for anyone who cannot safely use the stairs alone: go to a refuge point or place of safety, such as a neighbour's flat, and call 999²⁶.

Manchester Fire and Rescue Service also advises flat residents to learn escape signage, keep door and window keys accessible and out of the kitchen, keep hallways and communal areas clear of clutter, report discarded rubbish to the landlord, identify a second escape route and review the plan regularly⁹. If you want a fuller walkthrough of a fire in a block, see our guide to what to do if there is a fire in your block of flats.

High-rise homes: know your building's plan

High-rise residents have one extra job: finding out the building's evacuation strategy before any emergency. Warwickshire's high-rise guidance advises making sure you know your building's evacuation plan, which will say whether it has a stay safe, stay put strategy or an evacuation strategy²⁷. Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service advises people who live in high rise properties and purpose-built flats or maisonettes to know their escape route and what to do if there is a fire inside your home or somewhere else in the building²⁴.

The practical preparations are concrete. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service advises knowing the fire plan for your building, avoiding lifts and balconies if there is a fire, counting how many doors you need to go through to reach the stairs, keeping corridors and stairways clear, and making sure doors to stairways are not locked²⁰. Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service advises keeping all exits clear, keeping door and window keys near the exit, preparing a grab bag with prescriptions, documents such as a driving licence and passport, spare keys, a mobile phone, a charger and a torch, knowing how to isolate your gas, electric and water supply, and getting to know neighbours who may need assistance in an emergency²⁸. South Wales Fire and Rescue Service adds simple housekeeping such as disposing of waste correctly²⁹, and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service says to communicate the escape plan to all occupants²⁵.

The Scottish Government has published an information leaflet giving residents of high rise buildings information on how to prevent fires and what to do if there is a fire³⁰. Residents who cannot use stairs unaided should also know that the government has looked specifically at personal emergency evacuation plans: a consultation on Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans in high-rise residential buildings ran from 8 June 2021 to 19 July 2021 and drew 312 online survey responses plus a further 70 in alternative formats³¹. Ask your landlord or building manager what arrangements, if any, exist for your building.

Talking to children about the plan

A plan only works if the youngest people in the house know it. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service suggests a useful starting point: when talking to children, refer to what they do at school in their fire drill, and apply that to your home situation¹⁶. Children already understand the idea of lining up and leaving a building; you are transferring that habit to home.

The Fire Kills campaign advises teaching children never to hide from fire or from firefighters, practising the plan regularly and making it feel like a game, and making sure they know to get out and stay out, and never to go back inside for toys or pets²³. The national Prepare campaign adds that you will probably need to talk about fire safety with children more than once to make sure they have remembered and understood what you have taught them¹⁵. One conversation is not enough; make the plan part of normal family life.

Give children the specific rules they need. The government's fire safety advice for parents and child carers teaches the same door check as adults use: before you open a door, check if it is warm, and if it is, do not open it, because fire is on the other side³². It also teaches the trapped position for children: go into a room with a window if the way out is blocked, put bedding or towels along the bottom of the door to stop smoke getting in, open the window and shout "HELP FIRE"³². If a child in your household is setting fires rather than just learning about them, fire services run intervention schemes, covered in our guide to children who set fires.

Once you are out: get out, stay out, call 999

The instruction that ends every fire service escape plan in the UK is the same eight words: get out, stay out, call 999². Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service adds the detail of the last step: once you are out, get well away from the building and call 999 if you have not already⁶. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service reminds households that 999 calls are free¹².

Agree your meeting point as part of the plan, so that you can confirm everyone is out without going back in. Fire services include identifying escape routes and meeting points together in emergency planning²⁹. When you call, be ready to describe where you are and, if anyone is still inside, where they are in the building and the quickest way for firefighters to reach them⁶. If you are calling while trapped inside, stay on the phone while you evacuate if you can⁹.

Do not go back in for anything³. Not for a pet, not for a phone, not for documents. Firefighters have protective equipment and breathing apparatus; you do not. Our guide to how fire and rescue services respond to a call explains what happens after you make that call, and our guide to what to do after a fire covers the days that follow.

Make your plan online in about 5 minutes

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service has an online planner that turns the whole of this page into a short exercise: it only takes about 5 minutes to create a home fire escape plan⁵. The planner covers who is in your plan, your main and back-up escape routes, where to gather outside, and which room can act as a refuge⁵. Once you are finished, you can email the plan to yourself and anyone else who lives in your home⁵, which solves the sharing problem at a stroke.

Suffolk also publishes a 16-question quiz about escaping a fire at home, covering what to do when you first realise there is a fire, how to check if there is a fire behind closed doors, what to have in your escape kit, what to do if your escape route is blocked, and what to do once you get out of the house⁵. The service recommends taking the quiz before starting your plan, but it is not essential⁵. More than 1,000 people have taken the quiz, scoring it on average 4.4 out of 5 for usefulness⁵.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service offers a printable alternative, an escape plan template and bedtime routine you can fill in on paper¹¹. Whichever format you use, the test of the plan is not the document but the practising. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service makes the case for rehearsal plainly: practising helps everyone stay calm if there is a fire, and it also helps you get to safety quicker⁸. Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service advises planning your escape with the same emphasis on practice³³, and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service tells residents to plan, practise and understand your escape route and building evacuation procedure²².

Practise both routes. Practise at night. Practise the door check and the trapped position. Then review the plan whenever your home changes: a new lock, a rearranged bedroom, a new person in the house. Five minutes of planning, and a few minutes of practice a couple of times a year, is the whole cost of a plan that fire and rescue services across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland agree can save your household's lives.