What to Do When in a Burning Building

Posted in blog on May 24, 2016

Being in a building fire can be one of the most frightening and traumatic experiences of your life. If you don’t know how to protect yourself and your family during a building or house fire, you can sustain serious injuries – including smoke inhalation, severe burns, and toxic gas poisoning. Understanding how to react to a building fire can mean the difference between life and death.

Get Out of the Building Safely

Hopefully, the building you’re in has fire alarms installed to wake sleeping residents in the event of fires. Many building fire deaths result from people passing out from smoke inhalation in their sleep due to lack of a fire alarm to wake them, making it impossible to escape in time. If you wake to a building fire, you need to know how to escape with the least chance of injury.

Know the layout of the building you’re in, no matter where you are. Your knowledge of the building’s emergency exits can help you escape quickly and efficiently. Smoke rises, so crawl across the ground toward the exit to avoid smoke inhalation. Cover your nose and mouth with a cloth. If you don’t know what room the fire is in, test doorknobs with the back of your hand for warmth. Warm doorknobs are signs of a fire in another room.

Never use an elevator during a fire. Elevators may stop working during a fire and trap occupants inside. Instead, take the stairs as quickly as possible without trampling others. If you cannot get to an exit, immediately call the fire department or yell for help out of a window. Seal your door with a blanket or clothing to prevent smoke from entering, and open windows for fresh air.

What to Do After a Building Fire

Once you escape from a burning building, the first thing to do is to call the fire department if it hasn’t already been called. Notify them of a fire emergency from a location a safe distance away from the burning building. Never attempt to run back inside the building to look for trapped people or pets. Wait for the fire department to do this with the proper equipment.

If you are actively on fire, stop, drop, and roll until the flames dissipate. If you sustain a burn, you can take small steps toward managing the injury until paramedics arrive. Remove all burned clothing to prevent it from adhering to burned skin. Burned areas swell immediately, so it’s important to remove any restrictive clothing or jewelry as soon as possible.

If there is cool, fresh water available, submerge your burned skin if you suffered first- and second-degree burns. For third and fourth-degree burns, lay flat and elevate your feet to prevent shock. Seek help immediately. You’ll need medical attention to prevent infection and further injury.

Take Steps to Prevent a Building Fire

For your best chance at avoiding injury in a burning building, take steps toward preventing fires to begin with. Preventing building fires and being careful to safely detect and evacuate a burning building can significantly reduce your chance of injury. Always have an escape plan in the building you reside in. Know your evacuation route and safe meeting place, and make sure others in your family know the plan too. Check smoke detectors regularly or have the building owner do so for you.

Expert Burn Injury Lawyers in San Diego

If you suffer a burn injury in a burning building, you may have a case against the building owner for negligence. If the building owner failed to provide working smoke detectors or fire alarms or had emergency exits unlawfully blocked, the courts may find him or her responsible for burn injuries. For more information about your particular case, contact Liljegren Law Group for personal injury lawyers with experience helping burn victims.