My condolences to the member who lost a ferret in the fire.  As a
volunteer firefighter, and ferret owner I would like to share some tips
that I use myself.
 
First, the ferret cage is in my bedroom right by the window I will use
as an egress.  Second, I keep my bedroom door shut at night as a smoke
barrier.
 
If the smoke detector should go off, I first check the door to see if it
is warmer at the top (heat & smoke rise) , if not I carefully open the
door if I see any smoke, the house gets evacuated, then the Fire dept gets
called.  As a firefighter, I know that the smoke is what will kill you, it
can be fatal to "take a look and see if it's not too bad" .  Chances are,
by the time the detector wakes you up, the fire is larger than you can
safely handle.
 
Check your smoke detectors on a weekly basis, and if you smoke, don't
smoke in the bedroom.  Also, get the stickers for your windows alerting
the F.D. of the presence of pets, we do look.
 
Michael "Mick"Schmid
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
(When All Else Fails, Play Dead)
[Posted in FML issue 3114]