Early one morning last year, I woke up to the smell of smoke in our home. I was disoriented and half asleep, as was my husband. But the two of us quickly snapped awake when we realized there was a possibility our house was on fire. Instinct told us what to do, but in reality, we were so unprepared. My husband dialed 911 while I roused the kids and got them outside. First, I woke up our eldest daughter and then I grabbed the baby and our toddler and ran outside to meet my husband. It was then I realized our eldest daughter hadn't followed me outside. I ran back into the house and discovered her asleep on her bed, oblivious to the smoke swirling around her head and the alarms going off. I quickly scooped her up and ran out of the house with her and by that time, the Fire Dept. had arrived.

Thankfully, our house was not on fire, there was an electrical problem with our heater that had caused a sufficient amount of smoke to blow throughout our home, but once the doors were opened and some Febreze was sprayed, you really couldn't tell there had ever been a problem. BUT...my husband and I realized that had it been an actual fire, we would have been in some serious trouble. And one of our kids could have died...which was the most frightening thought of all.

October 7-13 is Fire Prevention Week. I urge everyone to develop their home escape plan and practice it. You can download a handy checklist here:


Visit the National Fire Prevention Association's webpage and get all the details you need to prepare your family for an emergency.

We were blessed to have the outcome we did, but we also realized that was a warning and that we needed to heed it and spread the word to other families who are not prepared.

Also, visit this website for a handy checklist to make sure you are adequately prepared for any emergency that might arise.

Head on over to Shannon's blog, Rocks in My Dryer for more Works for Me Wednesday Tips.

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