Fire safety rules for children (how to prevent fires, etc.)

Some fires and fatalities could have been avoided if children knew the rules of fire safety. In stressful situations, even an adult may get confused, and children tend to do so much often. From time to time, talk to your child about the rules and simulate situations so that they can easily remember what to do to prevent a fire and escape in case of danger.

In the article we will explain fire safety for children in different situations and give practical advice on how to make it easier for the child to remember this rules.

When child is at home

When a child is left at home alone, it is important that they follow certain rules. This requires not just telling them what they can't do, but explaining why they can't do it and what the consequences might be.

Here are the basic rules of fire safety at home:

👉 Unplug all electrical appliances that are not being used at the moment: laptop, TV, electric kettle.
👉 Do not dry laundry on a heater or cover lamps or lights with cloth or paper. The appliances may overheat and catch fire.
👉 Do not leave a gas or electric cooker running unattended. A child may be heating food, step away or get distracted and forget there is a working stove.
👉 Do not open the burner of a gas cooker for longer than a couple of seconds before lighting it. Gas leakage may cause a fire or an explosion.
👉 Wet a match after lighting a fire on a burner. If one doesn't do this, the match may not be fully extinguished. It will smoulder and objects nearby may catch fire.
👉 Do not launch pyrotechnics such as firecrackers and fireworks at home or from balconies. These may cause a fire.

Even a phone charger must not be left in the outlet because it is electrified. It may cause a short circuit and the power socket may catch fire. Therefore, when a phone is charged, the charger should be unplugged from the wall outlet

When child is in a public place

Children visit schools, clinics and shopping centres, but rarely they think about fire safety in these places. Yet paying attention to simple details can save your child's life. Tell your child what to look out for when they enter a building, this can be done in a playful way. Imagine with your child you are in the role of a fire inspectors who check, for example, a shopping centre on the following items:

Evacuation routes. These are marked with green pictures of running a person that point the way to the nearest exit. These signs should be used to navigate to get out of the building faster in case of danger.
Evacuation plan. Find it and study it with your child. The plan shows stairs, passageways, fire extinguishers and emergency exits. The main exits are likely to be crowded during a fire, and you may use the emergency exits to get out of the building faster.
Fire extinguishers and fire hoses. These are stored in special cabinets that must be present on each floor of the building.
Free pathways to exits. Paths to exits must be free of rubbish and obstructions.
Antipanic systems on doors. An antipanic system on a door is a handle that can be pushed to swing the door open, even if it is locked. Show your child how to open these doors: in a dangerous situation, it could save their life.

With such a checklist you can go round a shopping centre with your child and draw up your own fire security protocol. And if you find any violations, contact the administration of the shopping centre to have them eliminated.

When child is in the open air

All parents tell their children that it is not allowed to light fires in nature, because it is dangerous. But it happens that in the company of peers, someone out of curiosity may break the rule. To warn your child, tell them about the rules of fire safety in nature:

If someone is going to start a fire, there must be water nearby so that the flames can be put out.
Make sure there are no dry leaves, pine needles, grass, branches or tree roots nearby. These may catch fire and make the fire difficult to put out.
Keep an eye on the campfire at all times: flames can ignite other objects and start a uncontrolled fire. It is important to spot the fire in time and put it out.
Put out the fire with water until the embers stop smouldering. Then wait until it stops steaming, then you can leave.
If a thunderstorm starts, leave the forest as soon as possible and go home. Do not hide from the rain under trees: lightning may strike them.

If lightning strikes a tree and there are people underneath it, they could be hurt

These rules can be told to your children when you are on a picnic together so they are easier to remember. Be sure to remind your child that if the situation gets out of control and a fire starts, they should call the fire brigade on 112 immediately.

When a fire happens

Most parents tell their children a lot about what to do to prevent a fire from happening. But they miss the importance of explaining how to behave if a fire does happen. Discuss with your child what they should do.

If there is a fire in your flat, you should leave the house as soon as possible and notify the firefighters. When you leave, close the door behind you: an open doorway allows air to flow in, which will make the fire worse, and smoke will quickly fill the stairwell, making it difficult for other occupants to leave the building. Call the emergency services by dialling 112.

When you leave the flat, do not lock the door: this will allow firefighters to get in and put out the fire quicker.

Only use the stairs during a fire: lifts may be short-circuited and their doors may not open or they could get stuck between floors

If there is a fire in a building or block of flats, but not in your flat, you should open the front door and see if you can get out of the building using the stairs. If the fire has already spread there or there is lots of smoke, you should not leave the flat. Even small amounts of carbon dioxide can make a person dizzy and ultimately lose consciousness.

In such a situation, close the front door, go to a far room and close the doors in the connecting rooms: this will make the smoke enter the flat slower

Call the firefighters and give details of your address and where exactly you are. The fire brigade will be able to get to the scene quickly and rescue you.

🔔 Important: don't think you can get through a smoke-filled space by breathing through a wet rag. This is a misconception. The rag will protect you from soot, but it will let the gases in, which is what can cause a person to lose consciousness.

During a fire, children may decide to hide. You need to explain that this is not allowed because it will be difficult for firefighters to find and help them.

Use the SimSum app during a fire

Install the SimSum app for yourself and your children. If there is a fire and your child gets confused and forgets where to call, they can press the emergency button in the app. Parents, family friends and other adults will receive the signal, and among them may be people nearby who can help the child.

You can download the app for free at the followinglink.