Ten minutes - that's all the time it takes for a fire to engulf your home - so families ought to create a fire escape plan in case of emergencies, Bermuda's Fire Chief warned.

As an extreme example, Vincent Hollinsid, Chief Fire Officer of the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service (BFRS), pointed to the current California wildfires that have left seven people killed and 1,800 homes obliterated.

At the King Street headquarters yesterday, BFRS launched its annual Fire Safety and Awareness Week.

And it's about everyone knowing what to do in case of a fire emergency, the chief stressed.

"By now, all of us have seen the images of the wild land fires in California on TV and the loss and devastation that has followed," he said.

"Although we are separated from California by thousands of miles, I'm compelled to remind people in Bermuda that a fire can engulf a home in just under ten minutes. That gives us very little time to recognise what has happened, as well as counselling those that are less able to act on their own, like children and the elderly."

Public Safety and Housing Minister David Burch echoed those sentiments by calling on Islanders to "always practice your escape plan", while reading a proclamation of Fire Safety and Awareness Week, which runs until November 2.

Sen. Burch said Government regarded Public Safety as a top priority and that Bermuda's firefighters put their lives on the line with every response to a fire.

Also at the launch of Fire Safety week, roughly 40 five- to six-year-old pupils from the Dalton E. Tucker Primary School (formerly Southampton Glebe) and St. George's Prep were treated to an animated show about fire safety and planning.

Cheralyne Outerbridge, a teacher at Dalton E. Tucker, said: "Every year in October, since it is Fire Prevention Month, we do fire prevention at school and the children practically know what they're supposed to know."

When asked of what she had learned, five-year-old Yeshima Burrows replied: "If your house is on fire, you have to get out and meet at a place. And if there's smoke in the room, you have to crawl under the smoke because the air is cleaner. And if your clothes catch on fire you have to stop, drop and roll."