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Teaching your children about fire prevention and what to do in an emergency is so important. National Fire Prevention Week occurs during the first week in October in both the United States and Canada. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 may be the reason for celebrating Fire Prevention Week, but it wasn’t declared a national holiday until 1925 when President Calvin Coolidge signed the proclamation.
When teaching your children about Fire Prevention Week you may want to start off by taking your children to visit the local Fire Department. While you’re there, they can meet actual firefighters who can explain the importance of preventing fires. They will probably teach them that almost anyone can prevent fires; it isn’t just a job for adults.
Show your children where the fire alarms are in your home. If you don’t already have them, now would be a good time to add them. You’ll also want to develop a fire escape plan that the entire family can practice.
The fire escape plan will have at least two escape routes for each room in the house so everyone in the family can escape in case there is a fire. Finally, you’ll need to talk about a convenient family gathering place like across the street at a neighbor’s house. It needs to be someplace that every member of the family will know and remember. Plan to have fire escape drills at least twice a year to keep everyone’s memories fresh.
Teach children that they should never open a closed door without feeling it first when there is a fire. If there is fire in the room, the door handle will be hot enough to burn them. Use the second escape route rather than going into a room with a fire. They should also crawl under the smoke if they have to exit through smoke.
One thing you’ll want to do is ensure that your children know not to try escaping from a closed room if there is smoke, heat, or flames blocking both escape routes. Instead, they should stay in the room, roll up a towel, and place it under the door. If they have a telephone, they should call the fire department to let them know their exact location in the house. They can also use a flashlight at a window or wave brightly colored clothing so the fire department will notice they are still in the house.
Teach your children to never play with matches, lighters, or candles. They are not toys and could cause a great deal of damage. Keep these flammable materials out of reach of children.
Finally, teach your children and everyone in the family the importance of “Stop, Drop, and Roll.” This technique is used if your clothing catches on fire and you need to extinguish it to avoid injury.
These are the basic ideas your child needs to learn while celebrating Fire Prevention Week. If they complain because they’ve learned this all before, make sure they understand that everyone, including parents, would benefit from a refresher course in fire prevention.
Wow i didn’t know there is a fire prevention week. It sounds cool. Thanks for the information.