You step out to the landing to take the rubbish down, or to the gate to fetch the post, and the door closes behind you. The keys are on the hook. And the oil, the milk or the stew is still on the hob.
First: is there smoke, or anyone inside?
If you can smell burning or see smoke, or there is a child, an elderly person or anyone who cannot get out on their own inside, ring 112 before anyone else. The emergency services can force a door in ways a locksmith will not, and they do not need to prove it is your house. Everything below is for when there is no smoke yet and nobody at risk.
Then: can the heat be cut from outside?
In a block of flats, the electricity meters are usually in a cupboard on the ground floor or on each landing. In a house, the meter box is often on the outside wall or by the gate. Switching off the main switch for your home stops an electric or induction hob. It does not stop gas: a gas hob keeps burning, and the gas tap outside, if there is one, should only be touched if you know which one is yours.
Ask the neighbours whether anyone keeps a key to your door. A key in two minutes beats any locksmith.
Ringing the locksmith
Say three things at once:
- That something is cooking, so the call is treated as what it is.
- What the door is: a flat door in a block, an armoured door, an old timber street door, a gate.
- Whether it is only pulled shut or locked with the key. A door that is only latched is usually the quickest to open, often through the latch itself, with no damage.
Then go back to the door and listen. If the smoke alarm starts, ring 112 even if the locksmith is already on the way.
Afterwards
Once inside, turn off the hob before anything else, open the windows, and do not touch a pan that has caught fire: cover it with a lid or a damp cloth and leave it.
If the door you got locked out of has a very old cylinder, it may be worth knowing what you are dealing with; there is a note on reading the age of a lock in a 1960s or 70s flat. And if your keys were lost rather than left on the hook, see the note on keys lost during the July romería. The quickest way to reach someone at any hour is the emergency line.