Common mistakes when escaping a fire – have you made any of them?

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　1. When asleep and hearing the alarm signal, many people frantically open the door in an attempt to rush out at once. This approach is dangerous; the correct way is: (1) Go to the bedroom door and use the back of your hand to check whether the door is hot. 　　(2) Prepare a wet towel. 　　(3) Never jump from a building casually; make your own life-saving rope first and then try to land safely. 　　(4) Utilize natural conditions as a life-saving slide. 　　2. When a fire has broken out in the room separated by a door, do not rashly open that closed door. 　　This approach often results in exposure to intense heat and thick smoke; not only is it impossible to escape, but it is also impossible to close the doors again, allowing fire to spread inside the room. 　　When the hand feels that the surface of the door is heating up, it indicates that a serious fire has broken out outside. To determine whether the surface of the door has warmed by touching it, it is better to do so at a higher height above the ground; for hollow metal doors, it is necessary to feel the temperature around the door. When the facade is exposed to flames for less than 1 minute, the bottom of the metal doorknob will start to warm up; therefore, touching the bottom of the knob with one’s hand is a reliable way to determine whether there is a fire outside. 　　3. When escaping, run while carrying fire on you. 　　If your body catches fire, never run – the more you run, the worse the fire will get. This is because when a person runs, it increases air convection and promotes combustion, making the fire more intense. “\"Running\" not only fails to put out the fire, but also carries the embers to other places, potentially spreading the fire further – which is very dangerous. 　　The specific methods are as follows: (1) Try to take off the clothes first, then immerse them in water or step on them to extinguish the fire. 　　(2) If there’s no time to take off clothes, one can also roll on the ground to extinguish the flames on the body. 　　(3) One can jump into nearby pools or ponds. But if the burn area is large, one should not jump into water to avoid infection. 　　(4) Never spray a fire extinguisher directly at the person on fire, as the agents in most fire extinguishers can cause infections in the burned wounds. 　　4. When a fire breaks out and people are trapped inside, they shout for help loudly. 　　A person is trapped inside a building by a fire and calls for help, but it’s difficult for those outside to hear them. Because the raging fire creates a wall of flames, it is actually very difficult to call for help from outside. At this moment, the person under attack should stay calm, lie down on the ground, and call for help. As the fire rises with the air currents, areas at lower levels may have already been burned or still contain unburned material; sound waves from cries for help can pass through these gaps and reach the outside, making it easier for others to hear the calls for assistance and allowing for timely rescue efforts. 　　5. When a building is on fire, jump down from it. 　　Modern high-rises are equipped with automatic fire suppression and fire alarm systems, as well as fire doors that can hold up for one to two hours – giving you enough time to escape. If the fire is not severe, measures should be taken to put it out; if this is not possible, one should cover the mouth and nose with a wet towel and crawl forward, or soak a blanket in water, wrap it around oneself, and rush out. If the fire is too intense, it’s best to take shelter in the bathroom, close the door, block the gaps around it with towels, and ask for help from residents downstairs through the window. 　　When death occurs upon falling, the following points should be kept in mind: (1) Carry soft items such as blankets and sofa cushions, as this can reduce the impact force. 　　(2) Choose to jump onto the asbestos shingle shed downstairs, the garden lawn, the pond or riverbank, or a tree with lush branches and leaves, so as to reduce the severity of injuries. 　　(3) When jumping barehanded, hold your head close to your body and bend your torso into a ball; this reduces the likelihood of your head hitting the ground. 　　6. If a computer catches fire, pour water on it. 　　Never pour water on a computer that is on fire, even if it has been powered off, as a sudden drop in temperature can cause the hot cathode ray tube to burst. Furthermore, there is still residual current in the computer, and splashing water may cause electric shock. 　　If a computer catches fire, even after turning it off or unplugging it, the components inside remain hot; flames and toxic gases may still be generated, and the fluorescent screen and cathode ray tube could also explode. 　　The appropriate actions to take are as follows: (1) When the computer starts to smoke or catch fire, immediately unplug it from the power source or turn off the main power switch. Then cover the computer with a wet blanket or quilt, which will help prevent the spread of flames and also protect against glass shards from the screen. 　　(2) When extinguishing a fire, never lift the cover to take a look; to prevent the cathode ray tube from exploding and causing injury, approach the computer only from the side or behind.