• Install and maintain smoke detectors
  If your home does not have a smoke detector, call the Knox County Fire Prevention Bureau at 865-215-FIRE.  Several studies have proven that smoke detectors save lives. Working smoke alarms cut your chance of dying in a fire in half. Please take the time to check your dectectors and ensure they are in working condition. It is estimated that nearly a third of smoke alarms in place do not work properly.
  
  Develop a home fire escape plan and regularly practice Exit Drills In The Home (EDITH)
  Smoke alarms can only warn of danger-you still have to escape the fire.  Unless you act quickly and effectively, the extra warning time provided by alarms could be wasted. The best way to assure your family will do the correct things in an emergency is to have an escape plan and practice it. The Key elements are:

• Leave the home immediately!    Do not waste time saving property. Take the safest route out of the house and call 911 from a neighbor's home. If you must escape through smoke, remember to "fall and crawl" under the heat and smoke.
• Know 2 ways out of each room!  If the primary way out is blocked by fire or smoke,you will need a second way out. This might even be a window. If you are trapped in an upper level of the home and do not have an escape ladder, open the window and yell for help. The first thing we do when we arrive at a home fire is walk around the home looking for those trapped. You can even throw soft items from the window to draw attention to you. Practice escaping by both the primary and secondary routes to be sure windows are not stuck and screens remove easily. Also, practice in the dark or blindfolded to simulate the effects of smoke.
• Feel the Door!  When you come to a closed door, use the back of your hand to feel the door from the bottom up for heat. Check the doorknob, too. If it feels hot, don't open the door;go to your secondary escape route. If it feels cool, open the door carefully. If smoke and heat come in, close the door and proceed to your secondary route.
• Have a pre-arranged safe meeting place.  If you all meet under a specific tree or near the mailbox, you will know that everyone has escaped safely, and no one will be hurt looking for someone who is already safe. Designate one person to go to a neighbor's house to call 911 for the fire department.
• Once you get out, STAY OUT!!!!!  Never go back into a burning building for any reason. If someone is missing, tell the firefighters. They are equipped to perform rescues safely.