Children in homes without working smoke detectors are at a greater risk for fire-related injury and death. Take these simple steps to prevent fires, prepare your home for a fire and teach your child fire safety. They could save your child’s life.
Preventing fires
To help keep a fire from starting, closely inspect your home to eliminate potential hazards.
• Keep matches, lighters, candles and other heat sources locked and out of children’s reach.
• Keep children away from cooking and heating appliances.
• Never smoke in bed.
• Extinguish all candles and cigarettes before leaving home or going to bed.
• Avoid plugging several appliance cords into the same electrical socket.
• Replace old or frayed electrical wires and appliance cords, and keep all cords on top of rugs.
• Store all flammable liquids, such as gasoline, outside of the home and locked out of children’s reach.
Preparing your home
• Install smoke alarms in every sleeping area and on every level of your home.
• Test and clean smoke alarms monthly.
• Maintain alarms by replacing batteries at least twice a year – when you change your clocks, change your batteries (unless it is a newer smoke alarm that uses 10-year lithium batteries).
• Replace smoke alarms every 10 years.
• Plan and practice two escape routes out of the house and each room.
• Designate one outside meeting place to make sure all family members are accounted for quickly.
• Sleep with bedroom doors closed. This prevents smoke, gas and heat from entering.
• Keep furniture and other heavy objects out of the way of doors and windows so they won’t block an escape.
• Place space heaters at least three feet from curtains, papers, furniture and other flammable materials. Make sure heaters are stable, and use protective coverings.
Teaching safety
Children need to be taught what to expect in a fire so they can act quickly. Teach children:
• Leave the house immediately if they hear the smoke alarm, smell smoke or see flames. Stay low and crawl – the best air is by the floor.
• Always feel doors before opening them. If hot, do not open and find another way out.
• Never go back into a burning building. Children should be reminded not to stop or return for toys, pets or to call 9-1-1 from inside the burning building.
• Call the fire department from a neighbor’s house or cell phone outside the home.
• Do not hide in closets, under beds, in bath tubs or in other areas of the home.
• When firefighters arrive, immediately tell them if someone is inside or missing.
FAST FACT: Playing with matches and lighters is a leading cause of fire deaths for children ages 5 and younger.
Lisa Klindt Simpson is coordinator of Safe Kids Southeast Wisconsin Coalition, a member of Safe Kids Worldwide. Safe Kids Southeast Wisconsin works to prevent accidental injuries, the leading cause of death among children 14 years of age and younger. Children’s Health Education Center is its lead agency.