When Creating Your Emergency Escape Plan for Your Home – Don’t Forget the Garage

Have you ever considered how you would exit your garage quickly and safely in case of an emergency? Whether the threat is a fire, carbon monoxide leak, power outage, or a dangerous situation, you should have an escape plan thought out which includes how to exit your garage.

Here are a few tips that the National Fire Protection Agency provides regarding creating a fire escape plan and preventing home garage fires:

• Make two ways out of each room – including doors and windows
• A closed door may slow the spread of fire, heat, and smoke
• When you have your plan created, make sure the doors and windows can be easily opened
• Choose the safest escape route with the least amount of smoke and heat, but be prepared to escape by getting low and going under smoke to exit if needed
• If you cannot escape - "seal yourself in for safety" (close the doors, use duct tape or towels to seal the cracks, cover air vents, open windows, call fire department for help, wave a flashlight or light colored cloth at the window)
• Store oil, gasoline, paint, propane, and varnishes in a shed away from your home
• Purchase a heat alarm – not a smoke alarm – for your garage. This alarm wills sound if the temperature is too high
• Practice your home fire escape plan at least twice a year
• Choose an outdoor meeting place a safe distance away for everyone to go to after escaping
• More tips found here.

How do I exit my garage from the inside of the garage manually?

Imagine you need to evacuate your garage quickly.  Maybe the power is out, or you garage door opener remote is not working.  How can you quickly open the door to escape? Knowing how to manually open your garage door could help you avoid a potentially dangerous situation, especially if your garage does not have another access door.  The good thing is that it is a very simple process to open your garage from the inside.  Read the step-by-step process here.  It involves pulling the red emergency release cord (the red rope that hangs from your garage door opener) and then lifting your door open manually.  When you pull the emergency cord, it will disengage the trolley from the garage door’s carriage.  This way, the door can be opened manually without the use of your Genie garage door opener.

Safety Note: Do not use the emergency release cord to pull the door open.  You must manually grab the door with your hands to open it after pulling the emergency release cord.  Also, make sure the door is balanced (learn how to check if your door is balanced here) and no springs are broken before operating the door.

How do I open my garage door if the power is out?

If the power is out, you can open your garage door manually.  Another solution that doesn’t require any manual lifting of your door is to have a Genie garage door opener with a battery backup!  Genie openers with battery backup give you the reassurance, that no matter if your power goes out, your opener will still operate! Battery backup options have continued to gain popularity over the years.  One reason is because of California’s Senate Bill #969 which mandated that all new garage door openers installed must include a battery backup. 

Some Genie garage door openers already include integrated battery backup when you purchase your opener.  Some Genie openers with 140v motors that do not feature battery backup capabilities can have a battery backup added (model BB140-BX). Learn more here about how battery backup works, and which models of Genie garage door openers include battery backup.

An option to open your garage door from the outside if the power is out, is to install a Genie Emergency Release Kit.  This kit attaches through the top of the garage and lets you use a key to disconnect the carriage which allows you to manually open your door.  This kit is universal and compatible with any brand of garage door opener.

 What monthly maintenance can I do on my garage door opener to ensure proper working function?

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