What should one do when stuck in a burning building? Is jumping from the building the only way?
Stop, Drop and Roll.
If your clothes catches fire, do not run, simply drop to the floor and roll over your back to extinguish the fire. Always crawl and remain close to the ground to keep you away from the high temperature, and thick smoke from the fire. Stay low, until you escape the burning house.
Cover Your Nose.
Cover your nostril with a shirt or a damp towel during a house fire; this will prevent smoke from entering your lungs. Also cover the faces of children as much as possible, especially when helping out to get them to safety.
Lastly do not run into a room filled with smoke or flames, doing that means running into massive danger.
Safely exit through doors. If you see smoke under a door, then you cannot go out that door, because smoke is toxic and fire is sure to follow. If you don't see smoke, put the back of your hand up to the door to make sure it doesn't feel hot. If the door feels cool, then open it slowly and pass through it. If your door is open and there is a fire preventing you from exiting the room, close the door to protect yourself from the fire.
- If the door is hot or there's smoke under it and there are no other doors to pass through, you will have to try to escape through a window. Be careful!
- Escape from a second story window if you can. If you have a two-story house, you should have an escape ladder that you can throw out in case a fire or other problem happens. If you really must get out of the window, look for a ledge and if there is a ledge, you can get yourself out onto the ledge facing the building. Always face the building structure when exiting a window on an upper floor. From a second story, if you have to hang, you might get closer to the ground and you could potentially let go and fall to safety.