Fires are the most threatening situation that a family can find themselves in. By teaching your child basic safety tips, it may save his life as well as your own.

Firefighters recommend that your family has a fire exit plan. This can involve drawing a map and practicing getting out of the house quickly. If you have grandchildren, you may also want to practice with them in your home since they are not as familiar with the layout as they are at their own house. You need to figure out the quickest way to exit the house from every area, including basements and attics. After all, if a fire does break out you do not know where everyone will be at that particular moment.

Once you have decided the best ways to exit the house, you need to pick a spot that your family can meet after leaving the burning building. This way you can make a quick check to make sure everyone is out and this ensures that no one goes back in needlessly, although you should teach your children that they should never reenter the building.

If you do not already have them, you should install fire alarms on every level of your house and particularly near sleeping areas. By detecting fires at their earliest stages, these devices have been proven to save lives. It is recommended that you check these alarms once a month to make sure that they are functioning properly.

In case a fire actually breaks out, you should teach your child to remain close to the floor and crawl towards the exit, leaving everything behind. As fires burn they produce toxic fumes that rise, so the cleanest air is towards the floor. When your child is leaving a room that requires opening a door, he should feel the door handle. If the handle is hot to the touch, he should not open the door. He should find an alternative route through another door or even a window if possible. A hot door handle means that the fire is on the other side. The vacuum created by opening the door can pull the fire into the room right on top of your child.

You should also teach your child the “stop, drop, and roll’ method in case his clothes would catch on fire. This method is very simple. If his clothes are on fire, the child should stop right where he is and drop on the ground. Covering his face with his hands, the child should roll back and forth again and again until the flames are smothered. This is something that you may also want to practice with your children, especially the younger ones.

Along with teaching your child how to escape fire safely, you should also teach him fire prevention. These are simple rules that children can easily remember. You should teach them that matches and lighters are not to be played with. Candles that are burning and stoves are also off limits as well as heaters and open fires. A child should never cook without the presence of an adult. Gasoline and other flammable liquids should not be touched by children under any circumstances.

By teaching your fire safety, you can help ensure his safety if a fire does occur. The main goal of all these recommendations is to enable the whole family to make it out of the burning house intact. You can replace your possessions but you cannot replace them.

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