DETROIT (WXYZ) — When it comes to a fire, seconds matter, and that's why firefighters say it's critical to get out of your home as soon as you suspect it's on fire.
"A lot of people are under the assumption is those flames that kill. It's that smoke," Detroit Fire Chief James Harris said.
That's you're not safe in any building that's burning, even if you can't see the flames. It's the smoke that incapacitates you before you even know it
"Things can be replaced and people can't," Livonia Fire Chief Robert Jennison said.
Just last week in Livonia, we saw how three teens spotted smoke coming from a house that was on fire. The elderly woman and her son knew it was burning, but it seems they were overwhelmed with confusion and panic. Their decisions could have been deadly.
"The lady wanted to go get jewelry and her other belongings out of the house," Ethan Morche said. "I had to forcibly pull her out of the house."
"I mean, that scares me. Obviously, the most important thing when your smoke detectors go off and you know there's a fire, get out of the house, as fast as you can," Jennison said.
That's because, in addition to producing toxic smoke, fire is eating up that oxygen or displacing it with other gasses. When the oxygen level in the air is at 21%, that's like breathing normal outside air, but when it drops to 17%, impaired judgment and poor coordination set in. At 12%, people experience headaches, dizziness, nausea and fatigue. At 9%, they are unconscious, and at 6%, cardiac arrest and even death.
"People are in panic mode, they don't understand what they need to realize. And that smoke alarm goes off. You get low when you go," Harris said.
"I always preach when I talk to all the kids or the seniors or whatever group I'm talking to. The first thing we always talk about is if there is a fire, get out. If there are things that you want in the home, let us know. And that's our job. We'll go in there and retrieve items as we're extinguishing the fire," Livonia Fire Captain Timothy Eskin added.
He said to have a plan. Look for two ways out of any room and practice the plan.
The National Fire Protection Association has helpful videos to guide you.
"Children can sleep through a smoke alarm even if it's right next to them. So always check their room and stay with them as you exit the house," the NFPA video said.
"Have a plan, if the fire alarms go off, this is what we're going to do. And this is where we're going to meet," Jennison said.
"When I go to the elementary schools, one of the first things we teach is crawl low, under smoke, because the cleaner air is at the bottom towards the ground," Eskin said.
Also, sleep with the doors closed. That will buy you a little bit of time before the fire can spread and burn you and get through the bedroom door.
If you have pets, firefighters say don't run around the house trying to find them.
"If there was a fire in the house, get out on leave your doors open. So hopefully those animals do get out. But if don't go back through the house, looking for your dog, your cat, your whatever, tell us we'll go back inside. And we will look for those pets as we're extinguishing the fire," Eskin said.
Many fire departments like Livonia have special equipment if a pet needs to be revived. They have different muzzles for different animals to provide them oxygen.
"We have gone into houses and pulled out cats, dogs, six-foot iguanas. And we've actually had cases where we've revived animals and brought them back," Eskin said.
Remember, you don't have as much time as you think, so test your smoke alarm monthly and make sure it's in working order.
"They think they have a split second. And they don't," Harris said.
"Where we find most of our victims in a fire is usually by a window or by a door because the took too long to get out and couldn't find their way out," Eskin added.
