Five things to do to prevent or escape a fire in your home

WEST LINN, Ore. – The urge people have to go back into a burning home and rescue their pet can prove deadly.

Firefighters say it's one of the key mistakes people make.

Here're five live-saving measures you can take to prevent or escape a fire in your home.

No. 1 - Make sure your home has smoke alarms that are properly installed and working. The alarm is useless if the last time you burned something, and set it off, you took the batteries out and never put them back in.

No. 2 - Have a plan, talk about it and practice it. Everyone in your family should know how they're going to get out of the house if it's on fire and where to meet up outside the home once they escape. A good meeting place is the sidewalk in front.

No. 3 - If a fire does break out, get out of the house and stay out. People die going back into burning homes to rescue a pet or retrieve something. And they die most often from the fumes, not from the flames.

No. 4 - Numbers four and five are especially timely given the holiday season.

Many of us feel festive burning candles but you should know most house fires are started by open flames. If you can, make the switch to flameless candles. Firefighters say never burn a candle in a room you're not in to monitor it.

No. 5 - A lot of us have Christmas trees in our homes right now. They often sit near a fireplace. And when they dry out, they're basically like having a gasoline can in the middle of your living room. You can test how dry it is just by feeling how easily the needles or leaves fall off in your hand. A tree could set a room on fire in just minutes.

Firefighters say it's a good idea to get rid of them in the days right after Christmas.

Additionally, if you live in a house that has a second story, you might consider getting a fire ladder. Store it near the bedroom window and have it ready to be deployed. That's in case the bedroom is on fire or the flames are burning outside the door and you're trapped.

It's something you want to practice as a family because it's not something you want to do as a trial run amid a fire.

From ABC News: Fire Safety: 7 life-saving preventive measures