October brings Fire Prevention Week, and it is a good time for Florida homeowners to look at their windows with fresh eyes. Impact windows are built to stand up to hurricane-force wind and flying debris. They are not fire-rated products, and they are not a fire escape tool. Knowing the difference, and planning around it, is what impact windows fire safety really comes down to.
Here is what impact windows do and do not do in a fire, and the simple steps that keep every window in your home working as a way out.
What Impact Windows Are Built For
Impact windows use laminated glass: two layers of glass bonded to a tough interlayer, set in a reinforced frame. Each product is tested and approved for specific wind pressures and debris impact. That testing is about storms. It says nothing about how the window performs in a fire.
- Impact rated is not fire rated. Fire-rated windows and glazing are a separate product category with their own testing, listings and labels. A standard impact window does not carry a fire or smoke rating.
- Do not count on the glass to stop fire or smoke. No residential impact window should be treated as a barrier that slows a fire or keeps smoke out of your home.
- If your project needs fire-rated glazing, for example where a building code or HOA requires it, ask for a product that is listed for that use and keep the documentation.
Why You Should Never Plan to Break Out Through Impact Glass
The same laminated glass that holds together when a branch hits it during a hurricane also holds together when a person tries to break it. Even when the glass cracks, the interlayer keeps it in the frame. Breaking out through an impact window is slow and difficult, and it is not a realistic escape plan.
The right plan is simple: every window you might need to escape through should open, quickly and easily, from the inside.
Keep Your Windows Working as Escape Routes
Bedrooms are required to have an emergency escape opening, and in most homes that opening is a window. When you replace windows, the new ones should keep that escape opening working.
- Choose operable windows in bedrooms. Casement, single hung, double hung and horizontal slider styles all open. Fixed picture windows do not, so they should not be the only window in a sleeping room.
- Keep the opening size. A replacement window should not shrink the clear opening you climb through. Ask your installer to confirm this for every bedroom.
- Make sure everyone can work the locks. Walk through each bedroom with your family and practice opening the window. Kids and older family members should be able to do it without help.
- Keep the path clear. Do not block escape windows with furniture, and do not add bars or screens that cannot be opened from the inside.
A Real Fire Safety Advantage: No Shutters Over the Bedroom Windows
Here is where impact windows do help. With traditional hurricane shutters or plywood, bedroom windows are covered for days before and after a storm. That is exactly when power outages, generators and candles raise the risk of a house fire, and it is exactly when a covered window cannot be used as a way out.
Impact windows protect the opening without covering it, so bedroom windows stay usable as escape routes all season long.
Storm Season Fire Safety Checklist
- Run generators outdoors only, well away from doors, windows and vents, and never in a garage.
- Use flashlights instead of candles during power outages.
- Test smoke alarms monthly and keep one in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home.
- Make a home escape plan with two ways out of every room, and practice it with everyone in the house. The US Fire Administration’s home escape plan guide is a good place to start.
- Check your windows after a storm to make sure they still open, close and lock the way they should.
Questions About Impact Windows Fire Safety? Talk to Storm Pro
If you are planning new impact windows, we can walk through which styles open, how each bedroom keeps its escape opening, and whether any part of your project calls for fire-rated glazing. Request a free quote and we will go over your home window by window.
