Your brain’s alarm goes off for toast and for real fires with the same volume. Check the kitchen before you run.

The alarm system does not grade threats. Burnt toast and an actual fire produce the same jolt, the same racing heart, the same urge to move now, because the system was built for speed rather than accuracy. That means the intensity of the feeling tells you nothing about the size of the problem. It only tells you the alarm went off.

When it fires, give yourself the thirty seconds it takes to look: what exactly happened, what is the worst realistic version, is anything actually burning. Often the answer is toast. And when it is a real fire, you will still be able to move, just with better information.