Nearly half of all Americans have not developed a home fire escape plan. Of those that have, one-quarter have never practiced it. These and other findings from a recent survey conducted by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) prompted the official theme for this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, October 8-14, 2017: “Every Second Counts: Plan Two Ways Out™”
“The results from our most recent survey show we still have a lot of work to do in educating the public about home fires, escape planning and practice. Among the findings, people tend to think they have more time to escape a home fire than they actually do,” said Lorraine Carli, NFPA vice president for Outreach and Advocacy. “That over-confidence may play a role in why some people don’t develop a home escape plan or practice it regu