If you're in a room with the door closed when the fire breaks out, you
need to take a few extra steps:
Check to see if there's heat or smoke coming in the cracks around the
door. (You're checking to see if there's fire on the other side.)
If you see smoke coming under the door don't open the door!
If you don't see smoke touch the door. If the door is hot or very warm
don't open the door!
If you don't see smoke and the door is not hot then use your fingers
to lightly touch the doorknob. If the doorknob is hot or very warm
don't open the door!
If the doorknob feels cool, and you can't see any smoke around the door,
you can open the door very carefully and slowly. When you open the door,
if you feel a burst of heat, or smoke pours into the room, quickly shut
the door and make sure it is really closed. If there's no smoke or heat
when you open the door, go toward your escape route exit.Stay Low
If you can see smoke in the house, stay low to the ground as you make your
way to the exit. In a fire, smoke and poisonous air hurt more people than
the actual flames do. You'll breathe less smoke if you stay close to the
ground.
Smoke naturally rises, so if there is smoke while you're using your escape
route, staying low means you can crawl under most of it. You can drop to
the floor and crawl on your hands and knees below the smoke.
Exiting through a door that leads outside should be your first choice as
an escape route.