Emergency Locater Window Decals

A common question we receive at CKFR is where to buy emergency locater decals to place on the window of a child or disabled adult's bedroom to alert firefighters to their location in the event of a fire. All progressive and modern fire departments, including Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue, do not recommend using these locater decals for several reasons;

• The decals could give you and your family a false sense of security and may imply it's safe for children to wait to be rescued.
• The window decals can alert a burglar of other intruder of an easy entry into the home. This could put the children and the entire household at risk.
• Children might have changed rooms, grown up or moved out making the decal meaningless.
• Occupants may be in another part of the house when the fire first occurs or while trying to escape.

Firefighters generally ignore the stickers on the windows. They are trained to make a thorough search for anyone inside a burning building. Critical time could be lost in looking for windows marked with decals; with no assurance anyone would be in that room.

If you have window decals in your home, we suggest you remove them. Take a proactive approach by sitting down with your children and talking about how to safely exit the house. Make sure they understand the plan and twice a year practice the home fire drill. Make it fun by developing different "pretend" fire situations and have them show what they will do. Be sure to have an outdoor meeting place.

Having working smoke alarms and practicing exit drill is the home, is one of the best ways to keep your family fire safe.