Teach Your Children About Fire Safety

Thousands of people are killed or harmed in home fires every year, and one in five of the fire victims is a child under the age of five years-old. Fire safety in the home needs to be discussed in the home. It should be a strict set of rules that all family members understand, take seriously and abide by. The parents and/or caregivers need to be the primary leaders and enforcers of fire-safety rules in the house.

As unfortunate as it sounds, smoking cigarettes is the primary cause of home fires. This grueling statistic shows that adults are not being responsible when, using flames or leaving flammables unattended. In the winter months an equal amount of fires are caused by heating equipment and wiring problems. Third on the list of fires in the home comes from cooking-related or kitchen fires. Each of these top three reasons for fires in the home are preventable. It's up to the adult to be responsible and teach their children about fire safety.

School districts around the country are required to teach students about fire-safety, many schools have firemen visit schools where they discuss the do-and-don'ts of fire usage. In the event of a child's clothing catching fire, it's important that children and adults are aware of the "stop-drop-and roll" method. Instruct children that if clothing ever catches on fire, they should immediately stop whatever they are doing, drop to the ground and begin to roll back and forth repeatedly and quickly to extinguish the flame.

Emergency phone numbers need to in an easy-to-reach area, preferably on a wall near a phone or on the refrigerator in the kitchen. Show children where these numbers are located and explain how important it is to call for help as soon as possible. Along with emergency phone numbers, plan a fire escape route with your children in the event of a fire. That way, every household member is familiar with a variety of escape routes along with one central meeting location if a fire occurs in the house. Have periodic fire drills so that the entire family is knowledgeable and prepared to handle fire situations.