If a fire starts in your home, you only have as little as two minutes to escape, according to the American Red Cross. That's why fire safety plans are so important and why it's crucial to have these conversations with any friends or family members who might live with you. But things get a bit more complicated when you have pets in the mix. How do you handle them and how do you ensure they're also able to leave the home safely?
After Redditor thiskatrinaknits asked the online community, "Firefighters of Reddit, what are some ways to help keep pets safe if there's a fire, especially if the owners aren't home?" people weighed in with their advice.
"If you do the test sound once a month..."
Train your pets to come to a specific location in your house/to you when the alarm goes off. If you do the test sound once a month and get them used to going to an exit point when they hear it, they can get out of the house faster when help arrives. If you are home when this happens, you also know where to find them and they will be less likely to be scared and want to hide.
"In my experience..."
Firefighter here: it's truly one of the most pleasing parts of an otherwise terrible day for me to bring someone their pet on the worst day of their life. I absolutely love animals so I will make a sizable personal risk to bring them out safely wether it's a lizard, a fish, a dog, a cat... doesn't matter to me.
The MOST important thing you can do, in my opinion, is make it crystal clear WHO (species) and HOW MANY we're supposed to look for.
In my experience, cats will almost always get out by themselves as soon as we or something opens/breaks a door or window. Dogs will almost always wait by the door they go out to poop from.
"Don't expect your pet..."
Have a sticker on your door about what pets you have. Lets us know what to look for. Close the door to the room they are in. That goes for everyone when they are sleeping. Get working smoke alarms, hopefully someone will hear them before the fire is too far involved. Better yet, get a system that automatically contacts emergency services. Don't expect your pet to get out if you leave an exterior door open. Their instincts are to usually hide rather than escape.
"The best chance of survival..."
I'm a firefighter and I can give some tips and information. I can also give my opinions, but they are mine and not every firefighter's.
First, we put more emphasis on saving people than pets. I know that probably isn't the most popular assertion on Reddit, but it's true. In addition, we will risk less to save a pet. I don't want to inform a spouse that their spouse died saving a cat. Again, not popular but this is reality. We do primary and secondary searches in every structure fire and if we find a pet, we will definitely pull them out. The big issue is that pets run and hide when frightened. Most pets I've found were in a closet or under a bed. Having said all that, here are my ideas:
Fire prevention - if you don't have a fire, your pet will not be in jeopardy. Working smoke alarms (with working batteries and tested once a month) combustibles away from open flame, extension cords used temporarily and not permanently, flammable liquids stored safely, electrical system up to code, etc. Research fire safety and put into practice.
Fire escape plan - create one and practice it with you family, and include pets in it. Assembling everyone in a meeting place, including pets, will ensure everyone is out. While we're at it, include house guests too. Many people forget this.
Tell the responding fire department there is a pet in the house. They will be on the lookout, with the caveats mentioned above.
See if your local FD has pet masks on their trucks. My department does. We just had another successful pet save a few days ago, and the cat is doing fine. It's also great media for the department, so it may be an easy sell, if you wish to encourage them. Some of our pet masks were donated by citizens.
I hope this helps. The best chance of survival is not to have a fire in the first place. Make your homes fire safe!
"You can buy a sticker..."
You can buy a sticker from a pet store that alerts fire fighters to any pets in your home. We put one in the window by our front door.
"Just remember..."
Others have commented good information, so I thought I'd share a photo of me saving a cat from a fire. Mother's Day house fire, upper floor 2 bedrooms involved. We found the cat in the bedroom unconscious from smoke and were able to resuscitate it. Even though the bottom floor of the house was perfectly fine, the cat was hiding upstairs and suffered from smoke inhalation. Just remember, they won't always know to flee the fire, or be able to.
"As far as tips or tricks..."
IAMA FF, and we (my agency and myself) have saved many pets from dogs and cats, to parrots, fish, snakes, and even a tarantula one time. We will always do our best to save any living thing in a fire, but your pet sadly will never be a priority to save in an active firefight. We are looking for humans, if we find a pet, we will 100% grab them and bring them out. All of our apparatus with my agency have pet masks that I've used a few times.
As far as tips or tricks, maybe train your pet to run to the front door when the smoke alarm goes off. I imagine this would be easiest with large mammals like cats and dogs. Those window stickers are a fine idea, but not ever in the forefront of our minds as we approach a working fire.
Letting us know where your pet likely is. What your pet is. And please, for the sake of OUR families, don't send me into your fully engulfed house to find your "baby" that is actually a cat or a dog. One of the scariest close calls I've ever had was going back into a fully engulfed single wide mobile home that my partner and I ended up falling through the floor of while searching for the homeowners "baby".
When we finally got out we were heartbroken and devastated we couldn't find the baby only to see the homeowner holding a small dog saying her baby had made it out. She was willing to sacrifice our lives for her dog, and that's just not okay. As a rule now I make sure to find out if the baby is a human or not before I go inside or send my guys inside.
"While others are giving great advice..."
Professional Career Firefighter/Paramedic here.
While others are giving great advice, realistically it is incredibly difficult to establish a "plan" with your animal. More often than not, they are incredibly aware of the house layout, but can easily become disoriented or panicked in a fire.
The best "tips" are sometimes the exact things we stress to other humans:
- Keep doors closed and rooms isolated, this can keep heat, smoke and fire from other rooms.
- Keep your house less cluttered and never block potential entries or exits.
- Lastly (and I cannot stress this enough), never enter the home again or attempt to find your animal. Let us go inside and get them for you. Many people believe they can save their animal, and don't come back out. We can get in, knock the fire down, and potentially save your animal without the risk of you dying.
And keep in mind..."
Make sure that your pets know where the exits of your home are, and make sure that they would be able to leave through them if there ever was a fire, things such as pet doors are great for this. If you can't do that, make it so that any firefighters who enter (And keep in mind, if it is a volunteer FD like the one I am a part of, that it may take upwards of twenty minutes for everyone to arrive) are able to see any pets that you may have, wether that be directly, or by a sign, marking, etc. If you know that your pet is inside the home when there is a fire, be sure so let someone there know. I'm sorry if this doesn't help a lot, but I am not an interior firefighter currently, though I will be in a few years.
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There's something about seeing a person litter that drives me up the wall. I remember being younger and being explicitly told to hold on to my trash and not just throw it in the street.
As a kid, I distinctly remember being made fun of for not just throwing the bag of chips I'd just eaten or an empty soda bottle into the gutter.
I can't imagine doing that. Why?! We truly treat this planet as if we have somewhere else to go. And yes, it says a lot about people who do that.
Turns out I'm not the only one with strongly held opinions. People shared their thoughts after Redditor Acrobatic_Western_67 asked the online community,
"What's something that makes you instantly dislike someone?"
"Treating food service..."
"Treating food service/retail employees like garbage for no reason."
SibyUnrest
This is a big one. Don't do it. It says a lot about you. The people who take your food orders are not personal servants.
"Standing in the middle of aisles..."
"Standing in the middle of aisles or doors, etc., and not paying attention to anyone else coming or needing to get through. Extra bonus scorn if you actually take a tone or give a dirty look when someone dares say 'excuse me.'"
llcucf80
Ah yes, spatial awareness. It's in such short supply.
"When they exhibit..."
"When they exhibit a personality trait that I also have, and don't like about myself. Every time I find myself being dismissive or judgemental of somebody, it's just my own insecurity."
At least you're self aware enough to recognize that, and that's a big step!
"When I'm talking..."
"When I'm talking and they are not listening. Like they are not even trying to pretend that they are listening."
eat-the-rich-07
Ah yes, the constant talker. Difficult to get a word in edgewise.
"A person can treat me like a princess..."
"A person can treat me like a princess but as soon as I see them mistreating either animals or people, I am out of there. Because one of these days, you'll be on that receiving end."
starlightradio
Honestly, good for you. You know when you've dodged a bullet.
"Telling people..."
"Telling people to smile. It just screams condescending and a lack of emotional intelligence."
Condescending indeed. I really felt for the women I worked with back when I did customer service. They heard it all the time and I could tell they hated it.
"Grown ups..."
"Grown ups using 'baby talk' to try to get what they want. I'm not talking about when people goo-goo at babies, but when they use a silly whiney voice to try to persuade people or make people do them a favour."
"Aww, pwease hewp me wiv dis wittle pwoject."
"When I hear that I instantly lose respect for that person, be it a stranger or someone I know."
"Pet peeve."
handsahwill
I cringed so hard reading this. I hope no one does that around me!
"When the first thing they do..."
"When the first thing they do when they meet me is talk bad about others. Probably to make me think they are great and it's the other people that are the problem."
TooGayToPayCash
Yeah... run away. Run far away. If they're talking like that when they first meet you
"Okay..."
"One-upping people. 'Yeah, that's pretty good, but one time I...' Okay, we get it, your life is more amazing than everyone else's."
well-uh-yeah
That's nothing! You should hear MY thoughts on what you just said!
See what I just did there?
"When out driving..."
"When out driving, someone who pulls out in front of you, then proceeds to go 5-10+ mph under the speed limit."
You just described a bunch of my family members. I apologize on their behalf.
It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway: These sorts of behaviors are the kind that make other people think you're a jerk.
Don't be a jerk. Got it? Good.
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People Break Down The Most F**ked Up Things Society Totally Accepted 20 Years Ago
The world has changed significantly in the last twenty years. Back in the day, you could just step out of the house and be gone all day and no one could contact you unless they were back home or used a payphone.
Nowadays, people expect us to be connected all the time, which is super frustrating in its own way. But it's hard to imagine the world as it was before, right? And it's pretty wild that we just accepted it for so long, that is until technology advanced enough!
Society has changed... for better or worse. People shared their observations after Redditor Silkhide asked the online community,
"What was the most f**ked up thing that was generally accepted twenty years ago?"
"I was knocked out cold..."
"No care or concern for concussions in sports. I was knocked out cold for two minutes on the football field, nobody told me, and when I came to we just resumed the game like nothing had happened."
"I didn’t even know I was out for those two minutes until a year later when people were telling football stories. I thought I had just gotten knocked down and got back up right away. I thought it was weird everyone was making such a big deal about it."
"My first ever depressive episode started almost immediately after that game."
ElbowStrike
Thankfully, knowledge about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is much more widespread.
"That Oxycontin..."
"That Oxycontin wasn’t habit forming and it was a miracle drug."
jm6398
Required reading: Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, in case you want to feel even more enraged about the ongoing opioid crisis.
"My high school..."
"My high school had an area that we were allowed to smoke. A designated smoking area for kids under 18."
Blitz-99
Ha! That would absolutely be met with shock and horror these days.
"Being at home..."
"Being at home at your TV at a certain time to catch a show, and expecting everyone to leave you alone so you could watch it with no interruptions."
"You could be out with friends and you'd look and say, "Oh, it's 7:30 I got to get home to catch my show!" And nobody looked at you like a strange social outcast."
prelegalalien
Ah, those were the days. The way we had to plan for all of these things, actually plan! Remember TVGuide?
"People dying..."
"People dying of Chronic Myloid Leukemia. 20 years ago it was 100% fatal in less than five years. Now it's treated with a once a day pill with no side effects for most people... miracle science right there."
Mandorrisem
Modern medicine is indeed amazing–and changes lives!
"Female celebrities..."
"Female celebrities and actresses with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. It's less prevalent now, but dang was it brutal back then."
spicedshrub
Karen Carpenter, anyone?
Talk about an emotionally devastating story.
"There's still a lot of trouble..."
"25 years ago, I had a gym teacher who did not think asthma was a thing and wouldn't let me have my inhaler at hand in class. I walked every mile because I didn't want to die."
"There's still a lot of trouble for the undiagnosed, but tons of physical and mental health issues that were downplayed or outright ignored at least have some kind of support system or protocol now. It's not perfect, but at least we know they're real and are starting to do something."
Pookajuice
A teacher who would have the nerve to mock a student for their disability or health problems today is in for a real wake-up call.
"Nobody said anything..."
"In middle school a student dressed up like an SS Nazi for halloween. Nobody said anything until my choir teacher told him that some people may find it offensive. Teacher was Jewish."
ExplicitTech
Yeah... that sounds like something that would warrant an immediate expulsion.
"I worked in restaurants back then..."
"Sexual harassment in the workplace. It was just starting to become a topic of conversation around the early 2000s but very little progress had been made."
"I worked in restaurants back then and the amount of harassment I and my other female coworkers endured was unreal by today’s standards. We all just learned to laugh it off because no one took it seriously."
dsw1219
Grateful to see the culture change for the better where this is concerned, though there is still so much work to be done.
"People would go to carnivals..."
"People would go in carnivals and shove their face in the same water barrel to grab an apple with their mouth. Completely bonkers in 2021."
iaml3roux
If COVID-19 had a Facebook, it would love, love, LOVE this.
For any of you reading... 2001 was 20 years ago. Take some pills for your back. It might hurt.
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Is it ever okay to keep a secret from your parents?
It's been said that what people don't know won't hurt them, and that can certainly depend on the circumstances. But some secrets aren't all sad, dark, and depressing. Some are quite wholesome, believe it or not!
And sometimes your parent might be in on the secret. That's right. One parent.
People were keen to share their experiences after Redditor TheCripdalorian asked the online community,
"What’s one secret you and a parent have kept from the other parental figure?"
"He fought back one day..."
"When I was 10, my older brother (12) was bullied in middle school because we were poor and wore Payless our entire lives. He fought back one day and was suspended from school. When my mom asked what happened, he didn't want to hurt her feelings so he lied."
"I told her what happened and she started to cry. The next day she took us to a shoe store and bought all three boys Nikes, which were very expensive (think Ken Griffeys). She made us promise to not tell our dad and if he asked, they were super cheap on sale."
"She bought us Nikes two times a school year even though they were way out of our budget because she didn't want us to feel s****y at school. I love you, Mom."
tkm0ney
It's awful that we live in a world where people get judged for not wearing clothing that is fancy enough.
"The day that my mom left..."
"My stepdad and mom broke up. The day that my mom left, taking me with her, I went back into the house to say goodbye. I got along well with him, my mom is a bit crazy."
"I was young, middle school age. He was devastated and broke down (a first) crying. He told me that he had never told anyone this but the reason he had issues getting along with my mom was because he was assaulted as a child, and he was sorry. He made me promise not to tell her or anyone."
"I never did. I always wondered if I should tell her but keeping his secret was the only thing I could do for him and I still cared for him a lot so I never told anyone. I wouldn't even post it here but sadly he passed away some years ago now."
"It was really sad, he was a nice guy. But it never would have worked anyway with my mom."
sarradarling
You're a good person, and it probably meant the world to him.
"My Mom worked days..."
"My Mom worked days, and my Dad was on midnight shift. So meals were my Dad's responsibility that week."
"One day, instead of cooking dinner, he took me to a funeral of an old teacher of his that had passed away...so that I could eat those little sandwiches, cheese and desserts."
mollymuppet78
This makes me think of all the times we went to Costco for free samples... though nowhere near as morbid.
"My mom slipped me the money..."
"I rented Mike Tyson's Punch Out when I was in 7th grade and kept it out until I owed $47. My mom slipped me the money to pay it off so my dad wouldn't go crazy about the money, which was a LOT of money for us back then. If he'd found out, he would have prohibited me from renting games for a while."
"I don't think he knows about it even now."
This is sweet and wholesome but we bet you remembered to return games after that!
"My dad and I would wrestle..."
"My dad and I would wrestle for fun. He would pretend to let me win, then he would get sudden strength and throw me into the couch. Well on this particular day, he mistimed his throw and yeeted me into the end table. I was fine….but the lamp on the table was not. We cleaned it up and went to the antique store to buy a really similar lamp. Mom never figured it out."
dbar58
My favorite part of this story is that it's a really similar lamp!
"First time I got drunk..."
"First time I got drunk at a party. I was hammered and was scared to take a cab. Then I remembered my mom telling me I could always call her for help and she’d be there with no consequences."
"I called her and she picked me up. All she did was make sure I was safe and had enough water to not get as bad a hangover as I was going to. No blaming me for waking her up at 3 am, no chiding just telling me she was proud of me for calling her for help."
"My dad, who’d most likely have a panic attack at the thought of me having been drunk, still thinks I was picked up because I was sleepy instead."
"Thanks mom."
certified-dumbass-TM
Parenting done right – good to hear that you can trust your mother!
"Now that my brothers and I are all adults..."
"Well, my parents divorced when I was quite young, and around age 14 I happened upon a substantial stash of pot in my mom's house. She wasn't angry about it or anything, and I knew she wasn't a stoner or anything, it was just a one-time thing she'd gotten from a friend."
"But as she correctly pointed out, if I ever told my dad he would do everything in his power to get full custody of me, and I wouldn't get to live with her anymore."
"Now that my brothers and I are all adults I can tell that story all I want, but yeah, I kept that secret."
NomenNescio13
Divorces can be very acrimonious. It sounds like you did the right thing here.
"That I'm the one..."
"I’m the one who got those massive dents in the back of the car when I was 17… backing into the OTHER car they owned. It was not a parallel parking hit and run."
Veauros
Yeah... it sounds like it'd be best to keep this one to yourself. What they don't know won't hurt them, right?
"I got lucky..."
"I got lucky and found a Wii for Christmas the year it came out. But it was for me from my parents. Anyways, one day I'm home from school and Dad was home from work. We opened it, played Wii sports all day and put it back before Mom came home."
Infectedrage
This is such a sweet and wholesome memory!
"The gingerbread cookies..."
"The gingerbread cookies on the balcony... Yeah, some of it was eaten by the birds, but not all of it. Sorry mom!"
VattghernCZ
You little rascal! She should have known!
Some of these stories are sweet and others saddening. Regardless, many people have their reasons not to tell their parents things. Mum's the word.
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People Confess Which Things They've Purchased And Never Actually Used
Whether it's a fad product from Instagram or something for that hobby you just know you'll start doing one day, it's easy to buy things that seem useful and then just never use them.
Redditor Doctor_Disaster asked:
"What is something that you have purchased in the past, but have never used once since then?"
Never Gonna Make That Telescope
"On a trip to Chicago at about age 14 to visit the museums, my parents bought for me a telescope mirror grinding kit from the Adler Planetarium which I desperately wanted. It had all the components needed to construct a 6" mirror for a beautiful reflector scope. I kept that kit until I was about 50 years old, moving from apartment to apartment and city to city, until I finally decided I probably just wasn't gonna make that telescope."
-konqueror321
You Probably Don't Need The Book
"College textbooks, as a freshman you think you need them but it’s a scam most of the time. Just get the pdf online tbh. I’ve even had professors that strongly hint at a textbook being available online and for students not to buy it."
-vanynoose
"I had a professor complaining and complaining that a mass anonymous email went out to all his students with a pdf of the text book. He just kept asking if 'everyone saw it and how terrible it was… but everyone saw it right? Everyone… did anyone miss it or not get it… that terrible anonymous email sent too ALL of his students got'"
"He was a good dude lol."
One Day...
"I bought a book on methods to tackle procrastination, 7 years ago. It remains unread though I’m sure the methods within are glorious."
-PhotoKaz
"On page 1 it just says, 'Congratulations! You have taken the first step towards conquering procrastination! Now just keep taking one step at a time!' Or some other cheesy stuff like that."
-tiredoflife2212
Bye Bye Bicycle
"Not me but my dad - bought a bicycle he never used, a year rolled by and the shop he bought it from called him and asked if he wanted it serviced, to which he agreed. Still hadn’t used it. I went to his place one day and saw the bike and asked if I can borrow it. He then tells me this story and said I can have it. Thanks dad!"
-WallyButterbean
Aspiring Artist
"I bought a wacom pad like a year ago cause i wanted to start drawing. Never got around to start learning."
-LordofthePigeons619
"You know, I got one to use as a mouse. I know that sounds crazy, but I was starting to get some RSI in my hand from constant mouse use at work and home."
"No lie - once I got over the first 24 hours of it being awkward as a daily pointing device, I quickly realized that I by far preferred using it to the alternatives. When you're over the learning curve it starts to feel so much more precise. It always got me funny looks and questions when co-workers stopped by my desk, since my roles never had anything to do with illustration or design."
"Absolutely useless for anything game related, mind you. But day to day document/office/browser/other stuff? Super useful. Maybe give it a try."
-infosec_qs
Time For A Game Night
film opening GIFGiphy"*Looks at the shelves of unplayed board games*"
-Mortlach78
"One day, the perfect group of people will be assembled in your house and ready to play that game... Until that day it sits on the shelf awaiting its time."
-silentknight111
Forever Disorganized
"Containers to get myself organised. Months ago. And now I’m on reddit. Not being organised."
-ReaganInc
"At least now, when you someday get the urge to organize your stuff, you will have the containers ready & be able to just do it."
-batsofburden
You Mean You're Not Supposed To Just Collect Them?
"I'd like to introduce you to my steam library."
-Fynn_the_Finger
"Me: there are no games to play."
"Steam library: *sad game noises*"
-SeparateBluejay9818
Banger Banjo
Sloth Banjo GIFGiphy"When I got my job back in April after a 3 year attempt at freelancing, my first pay check was the most exciting."
"I bought a banjo. I'm a city boy in the UK. I have no idea how to play instruments."
"To this day it stays in the corner of my room getting an occasional twang when I get a little spicy."
-schofield101
Yarn Hoard
"Yarn, so much yarn."
-erabera
"Yes, I am more a yarn collector than a knitter."
-shinyacorns
It's not too late to use that thing you bought forever ago and forgot about. It's never too late to pick up that hobby or read that book!
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