Flames aren't what kills. The smoke gets there first, rises, and knocks you out in a few breaths.
ACT
- Get out. Immediately. Don't gather anything, don't look for belongings. The time you have in a burning room is counted in seconds, not minutes.
- Get low. Breathable air and visibility are near the floor. Crawl on all fours, one hand on the wall to keep your direction.
- Close every door behind you. A closed door slows the spread by several minutes and holds back much of the smoke. It's the most rewarding action in this whole sheet.
- Raise the alarm once you're outside, never before getting out.
- Don't go back in, for any reason.
If you can't get out:
- Shut yourself in a room, ideally with a window and water.
- Block the bottom of the door with fabric, wet if possible.
- Signal from the window, without jumping. A waved cloth can be seen from far away.
- Only break the window if smoke is coming into the room: an open window creates a draught that can speed up the fire.
If your clothes catch fire: stop, drop to the ground, and roll. Running feeds the flames.
Only fight a starting fire if it's smaller than you, you have an exit behind you, and you know what's burning. If in doubt, get out. How to use an extinguisher: Using a fire extinguisher.
ADAPT
It's a pan or oil fire. Never throw water on it: it turns to steam instantly and throws burning oil everywhere. Turn off the heat and smother it with a lid or a thick, wet, wrung-out cloth.
It's an electrical fire. Cut the power first. Water conducts electricity; see Shutting off water, gas and power for cutting the power.
It's a chimney or flue fire. Stop feeding it, close the air inlets, and move anything touching the flue away in the other rooms. The heat goes through walls and sets the floor above on fire.
You're outdoors and vegetation is burning. Fire races uphill much faster than downhill, and follows the wind. Get away at right angles to the wind and downhill, not in front of the fire front. An area that has already burned is the safest refuge available.
You've breathed in smoke. Get into the open air and stay under watch for several hours: breathing damage can show up late. Soot around the nostrils, a hoarse voice and a persistent cough are warning signs. See Unconscious person if consciousness becomes impaired.
There are burns. Cool with lukewarm water for twenty minutes, then see Burns.
UNDERSTAND
A fire in an enclosed space progresses brutally. After a slow start, the accumulated heat brings every material in the room up to its ignition temperature, and everything catches at once, within seconds. This tipping point often comes only a few minutes after the fire starts. After it, the room is no longer survivable.
That's why the only valid strategy is immediate evacuation, and why the time you think you have doesn't exist.
What kills, in order. Smoke first, by far: it contains carbon monoxide, which binds to haemoglobin much more strongly than oxygen and starves the organs within a few breaths, with no smell and no warning. It also contains irritating compounds that make the airways swell. Heat next, which burns the airways long before it burns the skin. Flames last.
That explains staying low: hot smoke rises and forms a layer under the ceiling that gradually comes down. The thirty to fifty centimetres (a foot or so) just above the floor stay breathable much longer.
It also explains the closed door. A fire needs air; a closed door limits the oxygen supply, slows the burning and holds back the smoke. A solid door holds for several minutes, which is exactly the time scale of an evacuation.
One last point, often decisive. A smoke alarm wakes you up. Most deaths in house fires happen at night, to people who were asleep: sleep shuts down the sense of smell, and smoke puts you to sleep before it wakes you. It's the piece of home equipment that saves the most lives for its cost.