Children and House Fires

Do your children know what to do if they are caught in a burning building? They should; house fires are the number one cause of accidental death for children under the age of five.

There are several simple tips that you can teach your kids to help them escape in case a house fire ever occurs. Most deadly fires take place between two and four in the morning. Since it is the smoke and not the fire that kills most people, make sure that your children sleep with the bedroom door closed.

"What most parents have got to really instill into their kids is that you don't want to hide," says Clyde Rainey, a 15-year veteran at the Indianapolis Fire Department. "The simple message to kids-don't hide, go outside." The next step would be to plan an escape and practice it. Teach your children to crawl across the floor to avoid the smoke, and feel the door with the back of their hands before grabbing the doorknob. Make sure your children know two ways to go out, even if it means going out the window.

There is a correct way to go out the window. "Stand up on the chair and put both hands up," instructs Rainey. "Put one foot out, then the other foot and then you want to sit down on the roof. Crabwalk. You go hands and then heels." It is never a good idea to back out. In an instance where you reach your child's bedroom and both of you must escape through the window, make sure your child goes first. You do not want to out on the roof, only to have him go back inside to the fire.

If it should happen that your child becomes trapped, make sure he is prepared to be rescued. It is important for your child to realize that although a fireman with an axe may seem scary, he is there to help.

What is the most important thing to teach your children? Teach them that it is never a good idea to play with matches or lighters. "That lighter or that matchbook in the hands of a very young child, that's just as deadly if not more deadly than a weapon," says Pat Mieszala, a nationally recognized expert on fire safety and children. "Placing your matches up high is simply not enough because of those momentary lapses in supervision. It has to be in a locked cabinet or in a secured place where children can't get them."