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Fit emergency lighting and test the exit routes

If the battery bank or inverter fails at night, people must still see their way out. Independent emergency lights and torches cover that gap.

How

1. Fit plug-in or wall-mounted rechargeable lights that switch on when power fails along each escape route, at stairs and outside bedrooms. Check the maker's run time.
2. Keep a torch or head torch by every bed, in the mudroom, the battery room and the medical room.
3. Use battery lights, not candles. CDC advises flashlights or battery-powered lights in an outage and, if candles must be used, safe holders and never leaving them unattended.
4. Never use fuel-burning lanterns or heaters indoors without the CO safeguards in safety-10.
5. Run a night drill: press the smoke alarm test button, turn off the house lights and practise getting out by two routes, as USFA advises twice a year (safety-24).
6. Fix anything that slowed you down: blocked routes, stiff windows, missing lights.

Safety: Candles and fuel lanterns are a fire and CO risk. Prefer battery lights.

Do these first

• rooms-3
• safety-24

Sources

1. Proper Use of Candles During a Power Outage. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accessed 2026-11
2. Focus on Fire Safety: Fire Escape Plans (January 2012, archived). US Fire Administration (FEMA), via UNT web archive, accessed 2026-11
3. Smoke Alarms. US Fire Administration (FEMA), accessed 2026-11

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