Manufactured Homes in Dunkirk, Indiana: Smoke Alarms and an Escape Plan

Dunkirk is a small town in western Jay County, on the line with Blackford County. Wherever you live, the first week in a new home is the right time to set up fire safety habits, while you are already walking every room. This post covers the basics for a new HUD-code manufactured home.

Smoke alarms

A new HUD-code home leaves the factory with smoke alarms already installed, as the federal code requires. Your part is to keep them working:

• Test each alarm when you move in, then once a month.
• Learn which ones have batteries and replace them as the manufacturer says.
• Never take one down because cooking set it off. Use the hush button or open a window.
• Alarms do not last forever. Check the date on each one and replace it when the manufacturer says to.

The exit window in each bedroom

Bedrooms in a HUD-code home have a window large enough to climb out of in an emergency. Open each one on move-in day so everyone knows how it works. Keep beds, dressers and stored boxes from blocking it, and teach children that this window is their second way out.

Make an escape plan

• Walk two ways out of every room: the door and the window.
• Pick one meeting place outside, such as the mailbox or a tree near the road.
• Practise it once with the whole household, including at night.
• Make sure your address is easy for emergency crews to read from the road. Our Stroh post covers address numbers.

Outside the home

Keep firewood, propane cylinders and burn piles well away from the house, the skirting and any porch. Do not store anything that can burn under the home. Keep space heaters away from curtains and bedding inside.

Fire extinguishers

An extinguisher in the kitchen and another near the laundry or utility room are good places to start. Read the instructions before you need them. If a fire is more than small and contained, get out and call 911.

Common questions

Does my insurance care about any of this?

It can. Ask your agent. Our South Whitley post covers insuring the home.

Who answers questions about my smoke alarms?

Your home’s manual covers the installed alarms. For anything else, ask us and we will point you to the right place.

Where to next?

See our Jay County page.