Fire safety for children

It is very important to teach your kids about fire safety. You, as a parent, have to think and plan for every occasion where your child can get hurt by playing with fire. 

Here are a few tips about fire safety for children:

• Have a talk about fires and how to prevent them. In your talk you should discuss several areas such as fire alarms and their purpose, response to seeing a fire, playing with matches, and similar topics. It is recommended that you have a fire safety talk with your kids at least twice a year, so that a child can remember what to do if the fire occurs.
• Plan for a fire escape route and practice it with your kids. Planning for a fire escape route and practicing it can save yours and your children’s lives. Simply talking about fire escape plan with your kids is not enough. Practicing the escape helps kids to remember the instructions. Once you have an escape plan, you should practice it at least twice a year.  
• Teach kids to turn off electrical devices after use. In your talk you should discuss consequences of not turning electrical devices off. This way the children are most likely to remember that they can cause fire if they don’t turn off the devices.
• Do not allow kids to play with electrical devices. If your children are under the age of 5, you shouldn’t allow them to play with or use any electrical devices that can cause fire. Children especially should stay away from heaters and radiators. You should teach your kids that these devices are not toys and only adults can operate them.  
• Keep fire sources in locked places. One of the most important safety preventions is to keep all fire sources such as matches, cigarette lighters, and candle lighters in locked places.