This month, American Red Cross Disaster Action Team Volunteers have responded to numerous home fires in towns like Jersey City, Bridgeton, Elmwood Park, Old Bridge, Forked River, Perth Amboy and many more. Home fires claim seven lives every day in the U.S.

In fact, home fires claim more lives in a typical year than all natural disasters combined. To help protect your household, test your smoke alarms each month and practice your escape plan until everyone can get out in less than two minutes.

Home fires can happen at any time. The sooner a smoke alarm alerts you to fire, the sooner you can get out. This is important because fire experts say you may have less than two minutes to safely escape a burning home.

Tips for creating your home fire escape plan and practicing your 2-minute drill:

• Everyone in your household should know two ways to escape from each room in your home.
• Smoke is dangerous. Get low and go!
• Decide where to meet once you get outside. Select a meeting spot at a safe distance away from your home, such as a neighbor’s home or landmark like a specific tree in your front yard, where everyone knows to meet.
• Get out and stay out. Never go back inside for people, pets or things.
• If a fire starts, you may have less than two minutes to get to safety. Create a home fire escape plan. Time your fire drill and find out: what’s your escape time?
• While practicing your escape plan, teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like. Talk about fire safety and what to do in an emergency. Watch our Prepare with Pedro video with children in your household.

Smoke alarm safety:

• Place smoke alarms on each level of your home, including inside and outside bedrooms and sleeping areas.
• In addition to testing your alarms once a month, change the batteries at least once a year, if your model requires it.
• Also check the manufacturer’s date of your smoke alarms. If they’re 10 years or older, they need to be replaced because the sensor becomes less sensitive over time. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

The best way to be safe is to avoid fire dangers. Cooking remains the number one cause of home fires, followed by heating your home.

Find more information and other resources to help you prevent home fires by visiting redcross.org/PrepareNJ and check out our fire safety checklist in English and Spanish.

If you’d like to volunteer to help your neighbors prepare for and prevent home fires or recover after a home fire, visit redcross.org/Volunteer.