Mom Talk: Fire Safety And Your Children

I’m sure most of you heard about the horrific house fire on Christmas Day that happened in Connecticut that took the lives of three little girls and their maternal grandparents.  If you haven’t heard about what happened, then you should read about it here. Madonna Badger lost all of her children and her parents in this unimaginable tragedy.  A tragedy that was preventable.  In the post-fire investigation, firefighters discovered that there were no working fire alarms in this home. 

In the wake of this heart-wrenching catastrophe, fire fighters around the country have been desperately urging families to address fire safety with their children and in their own homes.  I, too, heard from a member of the Shoreline Fire Department wanting to bring awareness to this topic. 

Melanie Granfors is the Fire and Life Safety Educator for Shoreline Fire and asked me if I would write an article addressing fire safety.  Melanie is passionate about what she does and offers an amazing amount of useful and lifesaving information for all of our families. 

As the first in a series of columns I’ll be writing about child safety, Melanie wanted to begin by focusing on the importance of having a fire escape plan.  She emphasized that it’s not only important to create a plan but to speak with your children about it and practice the drill with them several times.  Like a lot of us, children learn by physically doing, not just having you tell them what to do in an emergency.  Practice is essential and empowers our children in the event of an emergency.

The NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) has a wonderful page on their website about Basic Fire Escape Planning.  Some of their quick tips are: 

1) Draw a home escape plan and discuss it with everyone in your household.

2) Practice the plan night and day with everyone in your home twice a year.  (Melanie suggests practicing three times a year.)

3)  Know at least two ways out of every room, if possible. Make sure all doors and windows leading outside open easily.

Melanie also urges parents to address fire escape plans with the adults of any household where your child might sleep over.  Do their smoke alarms work?  What is the plan?  Do the children know the plan?  The NFPA has an important page on this topic as well.  It’s such a crucial aspect of fire safety that a lot of us don’t think about.

Here are some other questions I asked Melanie with her responses to follow.

What are the top things we can do to keep our families safe in the event of a fire? 

Have working smoke alarms in every room except the kitchen and bathroom.  Test the alarm monthly.  Know what to do when the smoke alarm sounds (leave house immediately and go to family meeting place).  Practice home fire escapes at least three times a year.  Talk with your family about causes of fires and how to prevent them.  Make sure even the youngest children understand the importance of getting away from smoke, what the smoke alarm means, and DO NOT ever take batteries out of a smoke alarm because it is a nuisance.  Move the alarm or replace it when it is a nuisance. 

What are the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to fire safety?   

Thinking that the fire department will be able to rescue them and not practicing your own escape plan.  Not talking with your kids about what to do in case of fire.  Not understanding how fast fire spreads.  You must know that one or two breaths of house fire smoke can knock you out.  It is the smoke that kills, not flames.  Smoke smell does not wake you up.  Working smoke alarms should be inside and outside of all sleeping rooms. 

If you’d like some help in getting a discussion going in your family about fire safety, Shoreline Fire has a Fire Safety Center where you can take your kids to start learning about fire safety. “Shoreline Fire’s mission includes community education programs that promote fire and life safety for families.  We hope a visit to the Safety Center is a memorable experience for your child – and that it motivates your family to plan for fire emergencies that could occur in your home.”  There is no charge to Shoreline residents.

Call 206-533-6564 or email Community Education to schedule your visit.
The Safety Center is located in the vintage firehouse at 1851 NW 195th Street in Richmond Beach. 

We have some amazing resources and people in our community to help educate our families and keep us safe.  I am extremely grateful that Melanie Granfors reached out to me on this issue.   She not only brought a very important topic to the forefront of my mind but imparted some essential information I hadn’t ever heard before.  Fires do happen and we should know how to educate and protect our families in order to avoid a preventable tragedy.  When it comes to fire safety, complacency can too easily equate to tragedy.  

Some other great websites relating to fire safety are:

sparky.org (lots of fun worksheets and games for kids on this one!)

safekids.org (a fantastic resource for a variety of kid safety topics.)