After watching THAT episode of “This Is Us”, I haven’t been able to get the nightmare of a house fire out of my mind! Coming up with a fire safety plan with the family has been just one of the many items buried on my never ending to do list. But given that it’s October (fire safety month!), this weekend was time to gather the kids to discuss a fire safety plan – with First Alert!
Thank you < First Alert for sponsoring this post. October is National Fire Prevention Month and is the perfect time to gather your family and discuss fire safety.
This post contains a free Fire Safety Checklist, and badges for your kids when they complete the checklist!
Table of Contents
Create A Fire Safety Plan For Your Family
Do you think your kids know what to do in the event of a fire?? Time for the conversation! I sort of assumed my kids knew enough to leave the house if they woke up to smoke alarms. But it turns out only my older two kids knew what to do. Leo and Camille asked if hiding under the covers would be a good idea. Noooo!
The 3 Important Parts of a Fire Safety Plan
I sat the kids down and told them we were going to discuss fire safety- after all, if they have fire drills at school, we should have them at home too. I am breaking down what we did together into 3 parts.
This is the free checklist I want you to print out and check off with your family/spouse so they become familiar. The checklist is simply a list of ways to make sure your home is safe. I filled mine out myself but yours is already typed up for you.
1. Teach Your Kids Where To Go
Pick a safe spot to meet at in the event of a fire, outside of your home. It could be the sidewalk, a tree on the edge of your yard, etc. Our safe spot is our next door neighbor’s porch.
Make sure your kids understand that when they hear the smoke alarm, they need to escape to the safe spot quickly and not stop for toys. I reassured my kids their toys would all be replaced. “Mommy can buy you all new toys, but I can’t buy another you!”
Practice! This is my kids’ favorite part. We sent all 4 of them up to their rooms and started a timer. Have an adult set off the alarm and see how quickly (albeit safely) the family can get to the safe spot from their rooms! We got out in 39 seconds, 30 on the second try but I think some kids may have been cheating! Whew!
2. Add Reliable Protection To your Home
Our CO/smoke alarm from First Alert sits just under the ceiling.
Make sure your fire safety equipment is from a company you trust, like First Alert. Install smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms on every level and in every bedroom of your home. We just built our home so I was surprised to see we didn’t have CO alarms in the bedrooms.
This is a CO alarm from First Alert that doesn’t have to be installed- it simply sits out on a tabletop.
Test the alarms regularly! The alarms that First Alert provided us have a 10 year sealed battery. A fire alarm itself (not the battery) only lasts 10 years. How old are yours?
3. Get a fire extinguisher.
The #1 cause of fires is unattended cooking! I am not surprised. I am completely spacey and always distracted with family needs when cooking. We now are proud owners of a fire extinguisher and keep it in our kitchen, right under our cooktop. Fire extinguishers should be kept on every level of your home (laundry room, garage, near the grill, etc).
4. Reward The Kids – Now They Are Jr. Fire Marshalls!
I quizzed my kids first on what we spoke about before I gave out badges. Mama wasn’t playing around with this topic! You can get your badges to give out here.
Protecting your family is top priority. Y’all know I love a beautiful home- but it’s the people inside that we want to take care of the most! Don’t skip this conversation. With the holiday season coming, there’s no better time to make sure you have a fire safety plan in place!
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