Being prepared in case of fire

It is something we all wish will never happen - having our apartment / house attacked by flames.

Given how sensible our birds respiratory systems are, it is important to be well prepared to evacuate them as quickly as possible in case of a fire.

Since I moved in this building, I've got some practice in getting the birds (and cat) ready to be evacuated - we've had a number of false fire alarms over the years. While they aren't pleasant, it at least gave us the opportunity to work out the kinks to getting everyone ready to go. The carriers are right within reach in the birdroom and I've contrived a way to try to have two birds per carrier (Shade and Zuri are ok together and I put Piper in a smaller carrier into Pixel's carrier divided with a blanket but still have to work out Joey and Petey) so that it's easier to bring everyone downstairs. Given that our building probably wouldn't go up in flames all that quickly because of the massive amount of concrete, I haven't used pillow shams yet but they would be my alternative to getting the birds out more quickly and efficiently still (one bird per pillow cover) if there was a fire on my floor. The extra fabric would help lessen temporary exposure to any close smoke and they are more easy to carry down than the carriers.

It's a good thing to be prepared for.

And while we were ready for this morning's 5:15 false fire alarm, the resulting lack of sleep and cranky birds - no, make that cranky Meyers, was something else we had to deal with later on...