Don't Get Trapped In Your Basement!

6/19/2017 (Permalink)

Don't let this be your only way out

Don’t get trapped in your basement

By the DIY experts of The Family Handyman Magazine

The old saying “Always leave yourself an out” is especially true when it comes to home fires. When the basement stairs are blocked, or fire and thick, black smoke are racing down a hallway toward a dead-end bedroom, windows that are large enough for you to escape—and for firefighters to enter—become essential lifesaving equipment. These all-important escape hatches are called egress windows.

You may have installed smoke detectors, but if you haven't provided a way out once they blare, you've only done half the job. This is especially true for upstairs bedrooms and basements, where the stairway is often the sole escape route. If that stairway is blocked, you can be trapped.

According to the International Building Code, “Basements and sleeping rooms below the fourth story shall have at least one exterior emergency escape and rescue opening. Such opening shall open directly into a public street, alley, yard or court.”

Few of us think of windows as lifesaving equipment— but they are! When you need to escape a house fire or other disaster, or when rescue personnel need to enter—the right size egress window can make the difference between life and death.

Remember SERVPRO of St. Clair Shores is always Here to Help @ 586-741-5050. Save our phone number in your phone so that you can be Hero Ready if disaster strikes your home or business.