Fire Prevention Week 2016: Teaching Kids
In most parts of the country, people are delighting in cooler temps and pumpkin spice lattes, pulling out boots and sweaters and crunching in leaves. (I’m jealous. It was 100 degrees here last week.)
It can be hard, when temps are cooler, to consider the risk of fire danger. You might drive past your local fire station and see–thankfully–that the fire danger is lower now that temps are cooler.
We should never let our guard down.
Fire safety is for always. ALWAYS.
Fires are still burning around the country. Last week, 4 fires were burning within 30 miles of us. FOUR FIRES. We heard and saw the fire fighting planes and helicopters all day every day. It is so important to know how to respond in case of a fire.
I mean, how many of us busy, distracted moms have had a close call in the kitchen?? Raising my hand over here. One minute, I’m stirring something in a pot, the next minute the toddler has created some urgent disaster, or the baby has a blow-out, or a big kid has a bloody nose. Ack! Next thing I know, dinner is burning because I responded to the kids’ urgent need. Thank God I have never had a kitchen fire. But do you know what you would do if you did? Do your kids?
What if the alarms go off in the middle of the night, and it’s not because the batteries are dead?
Be prepared. Get prepared this year during Fire Prevention Week, October 9-15.
I know that my kids know to call 911 in case of an emergency. They’ve had fire drills in the past at school and even during church programs. More practice is never a bad thing. So, I’m going to spend this week making sure we all have a plan and the kids are well-versed in what to do.
ConsumerSafety.org provided me with a game idea to share with you, my readers! I think it is great, and a simple (even fun) way to help young children learn how to respond in case of a fire. It is called “Fireman Says”, and played like “Simon Says”. Here is a graphic for you! 
Click here for Fireman Says PDF
Other things that are musts for fire safety:
—Teach safety with candles, lighters, stoves, outlets. Keep lighters and matches out of reach of children too young to be responsible. My older children are responsible enough, and I trust that they will not be foolish. We’ve taught our children how to use a lighter to light our prayer candles, and to keep it high out of reach of the younger children. Make sure children do not stick any objects in outlets. Plug them when you have very small children.
—Test your smoke alarms and replace batteries. We had an alarm fail not too long ago. In case of a fire, working alarms help save lives. Make sure they work!
–Make a safety plan. Know where to go in case of the worst, a neighbor’s yard, a stop sign at the corner near your house, somewhere safe and away from the flames.
—Teach your children to call 911, to be able to give their address, and to do as a firefighter tells them. Listening to authority in an emergency is crucial.
—If you have children with special needs, plan for it. Come up with some plans for how to let first responders know your child’s needs, and plans for how to move them to safety.
In our town, we can ask the fire department to send a team to come evaluate our home’s safety. You might check into that as well.
For many other games and activities and resources, see these websites for ideas.
