Fire Safety Tips In the Home

Fire safety in your home and with your family isalarms every 10 years. Plan and practice two escape
paramount in keepingkids safe. Know the baiscs ofroutes out of each room of the house. It is important to
good fire prevention and tecah you children good firehave an alternate escape route in case one is blocked
safety technqiues.by fire. Fire drills should be practiced spontaneously
A small fire can grow into a deadly one within minutes.throughout the year, as home fires and home
To help prevent a tragedy, closely inspect your homefire-related deaths are more likely to occur during
to eliminate potential hazards. Prepare your home forcold-weather months, December through February.
an emergency, and teach your family about theKeep furniture and other heavy objects out of the
dangers of fire and how to escape. If a child isway of doors and windows, so they won't block an
coached properly ahead of time, he or she will have aescape.
better chance of surviving.Designate an outside meeting place, so all members of
1. First, eliminate potential hazards with these eassythe family can be accounted for quickly.
tips:3. Teach your children safety methods:
Keep matches, lighters and other heat sources out ofChildren should know the sound of the smoke alarm.
children's reach. Playing with matches and lighters is theWhen they hear it, teach them to:
leading cause of fire deaths for children ages 5 andCrawl low under smoke. An estimated three-fourths of
under.childhood fire deaths are caused by the smoke and
Keep flammable items such as clothing, furniture,toxic gases produced as a fire develops and spreads.
newspapers or magazines away from the fireplace,Touch doors before opening them. If the door is hot,
heater or radiator.use an alternative exit.
Keep all portable heaters out of children's reach.Never go back into a burning building. Children should
Avoid plugging several appliance cords into the samebe reminded not to stop or return for anything, such as
electrical socket.a toy or to call 9-1-1. A call to 9-1-1 should be placed
Replace old or frayed electrical wires and applianceafter leaving the premises.
cords, and keep them on top of, not beneath rugs."Stop, drop and roll." Upon leaving the burning house or
Store all flammable liquids such as gasoline outside ofbuilding, children whose clothes have caught on fire
the home.should immediately stop, drop to the ground and roll
2. Prepare your home with safety and announcementthemselves back and forth quickly to extinguish the
devices with these easy tips:flames.
Install smoke alarms on every level of your home andTake children to your local fire station for a tour.
in every sleeping area. Consider installing both ionizationChildren will be able to see a firefighter in full gear and
alarms, which are better at sensing flaming fires, andlearn that he or she is someone who saves children,
photoelectric alarms, which are better at sensing slow,not someone to be afraid of or hide from. Also, be
smoky fires.sure you're not teaching your children bad habits. Don't
Test smoke alarms monthly. Maintain alarms bylet them see you smoke in bed or disconnect smoke
replacing batteries at least once a year, and replacealarm batteries!