Fire Safety for Children: 10 Fire Safety Rules to Keep Your Kids Safe In the Event of a Fire

Froot Loop came home one day this week super excited because a fireman came to his school and taught them all about fire safety! He even got to look at a fire truck!! 

Here's the Ten Fire Safety Rules they learned: 

1) Stay away from things that can burn you like matches and lighters

2) Know what the smoke detectors sound like

3) Test smoke alarms every month

4) Have and practice a fire escape plan for your home

5) Make sure you have two ways out of every room and know where they are

6) If there's a fire, get out right away and STAY OUT

7) If there's smoke, stay low and crawl out. Stay below the smoke.

8) If your clothes catch fire, stop drop and roll, with your hands covering your face.

9) Don't be afraid of firefighters in their gear.

10) Call 9-1-1 to report a fire. 

It is imperative to teach children about fire danger and fire safety. Children need to know that fire can and does hurt and kill people and animals and destroy houses and belongings. 

The most important way to stay safe is to stay away from anything that can start a fire: matches, lighters, candles, the stove, fireplace, space heaters, radiators, irons, etc. Remember not to put anything on top of or in front of radiators and space heaters and to keep things away from all sides of these things as well. Teach children to report any matches, lighters, etc. to the nearest grownup they trust immediately. 

Make sure that everyone in your home knows what the smoke alarm sounds like. Practice getting out of the house as fast as you can. Don't forget to change the batteries every 6 months and to test the alarm every month. Make it a family activity. 

Have smoke alarms installed on every level of your home, in hallways and bedrooms. I also recommend having smoke detectors that "talk" to eachother, so if the one in the basement were to go off, all of the other alarms in the house would sound at the same time. This can make a huge difference, especially in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep. 

Have your kids help decide the two safest ways out of each room in your house. Draw a floor plan to help illustrate. Take a tour of your home and in each room, have children point to the safe ways out. Practice getting out of each room regularly. 

Part of your family fire escape plan needs to have a designated meeting place outside of your home. Make sure it's something easy for a child to find like a mailbox, lamppost, tree, stop sign, etc. Make sure that it's safe from traffic as well. Remind children to go to that meeting place and wait there if they have to escape from a fire and to NEVER go back inside for ANYTHING. 

Children tend to freeze and try to rescue their favorite toys, stuffed animals, or pets. Make sure that they know that it's most important to get outside as quickly as possible if they see smoke or hear the smoke alarm and not to grab anything on their way or stop for anything. Make sure to impress upon them that even though it's scary, they shouldn't hide. 

A "fun" way to practice crawling low to avoid smoke is to hold linens about a yard above the floor and practice crawling under them. Also practice checking a closed door before opening it. Practice putting the back of your hand on the door and at the crack of the door. If the door is hot or warm, there could be fire on the other side, so leave the door closed and use the other way out of the room. 

Children could be scared of firefighters arriving in their full gear. Remind them that firefighters are the good guys and are just here to help. It's a good idea to have children visit a fire station or arrange a visit from a firefighter like the school did so they can see what they look like before a fire. 

It's also very important to teach children to stop drop and roll if their clothes catch fire. DO NOT RUN. Make sure they practice this once in awhile. 

Finally, make sure that children know to GET OUT first and then call 9-1-1 AFTER escaping. The only reason anyone should ever report a fire from inside is if they're trapped inside with no way out. You can even role play this by having your children pretending to call in a fire to you, the emergency dispatcher. Practice asking for their name, address, what the emergency is, etc. Also practice getting them to STAY ON THE PHONE until help arrives. 

It's so important for children to know about fire safety. Just like adults taking first aid or CPR classes, knowing what to do ahead of time and practicing it multiple times can make the difference between life and death when a real emergency happens. If you know what to do beforehand, you're much more likely to stay calm and collected. 

Prevention is the best way to stay safe. If children know how to prevent fires, then the risk of fire can be greatly reduced in your home. Other ways to prevent fires are to have your wiring and electrical cords, outlets, and plugs inspected and replace anything that's frayed, cracked, or broken. Make sure not to plug too many things into outlets. Use a power strip with a circuit breaker instead of overloading the outlet. 

Keep your house uncluttered and keep pathways to your emergency exits clear and unblocked. Also keep towels, potholders, oven mitts, paper towels, etc. away from your stove, toaster, etc. Unplug small appliances when you're not using them. Don't put rugs over electrical cords. 

Make sure to install GFCI outlets anywhere near a sink or outside. 

Don't ever leave a hot iron, glue gun, blow dryer, curling iron, soldering iron, etc. unattended. Also, use candles with glass chimneys and make sure they're always out of reach of children and away from things that can easily catch fire such as curtains and other linens. Always make sure to extinguish them before leaving home or going to bed. 

Keep space heaters away from anything flammable. Turn them off before leaving home or going to bed. Also, have your furnace inspected yearly by a certified technician and change out your furnace filters regularly. If you have a working fireplace or coal/wood stove, make sure to clean it out before each heating season. 

Store any flammable cleaning products or liquids away from any source of heat. Also, make sure to clean out the dryer's lint trap before each use. 

Finally, don't smoke in bed. EVER. 

Hopefully, these tips will help you be prepared in case of a fire at home or even at work or school or wherever else. 

When was the last time you practiced fire safety drills?