Fire Safety at Home

Excellent Educational and Entertaining E-Stuff

(That alliteration got away from me, yeah.)

We know that kid’s minds are always whirring with ideas and if you can’t keep them entertained, they may get eerily quiet. One moment they are playing nicely and the next they are cutting their hair. Or worse, they are experimenting with a lighter. Kids are fast; faster than you can believe. Don’t turn your back, don’t look away, and don’t blink! Or, try some of these great safety videos, apps, and lesson plans to keep your kiddos entertained and learning. Here are a few of our favorites, organized by age.

Ages 3 - 7

Ages 5 - 7

Ages 8 - 11

Ages 12 and Older

All Ages

 

 

Ages 3 – 7

Sparky’s Firehouse is a great app with games. Work on sorting, matching, and fire safety. This is an app that must be downloaded to a tablet or phone. App store Google Play  Amazon

Home Escape Plan and Practice

Watch “Little Rosalie” video here. Sequence the steps to fire safety. Learn the dance to “Little Rosalie” here! Find a good meeting place for your home and practice moving from the bedroom to the meeting place and waiting at the meeting place. Practice until you can get out in less than 60 seconds.

Steps to fire safety

When the alarm sounds I:

  1. Get up and walk, don’t run. (Yes, skip the crawl low under smoke and just get out right away! Without home fire sprinklers, you may only have one or two minutes from the start of the fire to use the hallway.)
  2. Know two ways out of every room. (This is generally a door and a window. If you can’t get out, stay in a room with the door closed. Once the door is closed, use a window to get out or wait at the window for help.)
  3. Get outside quickly. (This is very important and the main focus – if an alarm sounds in your home get out as fast as you can. If you can’t get out, stay in a room with a closed door and got out of the window or wait by the window for help.)
  4. Go to the Outside Meeting Place and wait. A good meeting place is:
    1. The only meeting place for the house (If you go out the back door and are unable to get to the front because of a fence or something, get as close to the front as you can. Being able to yell to the people on the other side of the fence is better coordinating two meeting places. Don’t confuse the primary Outside Meeting Place with the Offsite or Neighborhood Meeting Place for natural disasters or hostile events. Have one outside meeting place for when the building is dangerous but it is safe to be in the yard.)
    2. In front of the house/building (We’ve had people go into houses looking for people that were next door or in the back yard. Please, be in front.)
    3. About 10 or more kid-sized steps away from the wall. It does not need to be across the road or next door. We just want you to be away from windows or doors should the fire break the glass or smoke comes through the openings.
    4. Always there and easy to see and reach year-round. Many people choose the mailbox, the sidewalk, or the tree, as opposed to the car or the potentially snow-covered grass.

Love dogs? Don’t miss Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog 

 

 

Ages 5 – 7

Sparky’s Fun House  - a game-based app that works on spelling, math, and fire safety. It is an app so it has to be downloaded on a tablet, phone, or similar app-based device. App Store  Google Play

Home Escape Plan and Practice

Find a good meeting place for your home and practice moving from the bedroom to the meeting place and waiting at the meeting place. Practice until you can get out in less than 60 seconds.

Steps to fire safety

When the alarm sounds I:

  1. Get up and walk, don’t run. (Yes, skip the crawl low under smoke and just get out right away! Without home fire sprinklers, you may only have one or two minutes from the start of the fire to use the hallway.)
  2. Know two ways out of every room. (This is generally a door and a window. If you can’t get out, stay in a room with the door closed. Once the door is closed, use a window to get out or wait at the window for help.)
  3. Get outside quickly. (This is very important and the main focus – if an alarm sounds in your home get out as fast as you can. If you can’t get out, stay in a room with a closed door and got out of the window or wait by the window for help.)
  4. Go to the Outside Meeting Place and wait. A good meeting place is:
    1. The only meeting place for the house (Avoid a front and back yard meeting place. Choose one and get as close as you can to that one place.)
    2. In front of the house/building (We’ve had people go into houses looking for people that were next door or in the back yard. Please, be in front.)
    3. About 10 or more kid-sized steps away from the wall. It does not need to be across the road or next door. It does need to be away from smoke coming out of windows or doors.
    4. Always there and easy to see and reach year-round. Many people choose the mailbox, the sidewalk, or the tree, as opposed to the car or the potentially snow-covered grass.

Love dogs? Don’t miss Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog 

 

 

Ages 8 to 11

Sparky’s Brain Busters is a trivia gameshow with bonus fire safety questions that is great for upper elementary and middle school kids. After attempting this game several times, I think it is for ages 8 – 108.   App store   Google play   Amazon

After watching Firefighting’s Weird History & Fascinating Future, complete the activities.

  • Discuss the ideas presenting in the video. Why do you think firefighter did this activity in the past or present? What problems do you think they might have encountered with this activity? Do you have any thoughts on future firefighting techniques that would make firefighting safer?
  • Draw a picture and write a sentence, paragraph, or essay about the future of firefighting. What invention or development could make firefighting safer? How will people keep themselves safe from fire in the future? How can firefighters be safer in the future?

Home Escape Plan and Practice

Updates to the video: Do not put too much emphasis on crawling low under the smoke or checking the door for heat. These are good but do not guarantee safety. The focus needs to be on getting out immediately.

Need help getting smoke alarms? Contact the American Red Cross at getasmokealarm.org.

 

 

Ages 12 and Older

XPLORLABS from UL. There are currently two excellent models for middle school age and older. Fire Forensics: Claims and Evidence leads youth through fire behavior research and the scientific method. Students investigate a fire, looking for clues to how and where the fire started. They build a case file and submit their findings. Portable Electrical Power uses scientific inquiry to explore the UL battery lab and learn about batteries, energy, thermal runaway, and how to keep people safe. *The Power module includes hands-on experiments that use items you may not have around the house and should include adult supervision.

Caution! Children and youth who are at high risk of using fire unsupervised or uncontrolled ways may be more likely to start a fire in your home after these classes. Signs of risk are previous firesetting, stealing or hiding matches or lighters, playing with candles or other open flame, putting paper or straws into a flame, or unexplained burns or singed hairs on the hands, forearms, or face. We provide free, confidential education and advice for concerned families. Please call us at 605-394-5233 and ask about our Youth Fire Intervention program.

Home Fire Sprinklers & Home Escape Plan and Practice

Watch the following videos and discuss the suggested questions.

Speed and Danger of Today’s House Fire

Rotate your device or use your mouse to look around the room. This video begins when the fabric starts on fire. The time it takes to overheat depends on many factors.

How did the fire start?

Does an object have to be touching something hot in order to start on fire?

At what time were there flames along the ceiling?

At what time is the window glass so hot it broke?

Fire Department Response

How long, from the start of the fire, does it take the average fire department to arrive and start fighting the fire?

How many minutes does it take, on average, to report a fire and for the emergency call center (911) to dispatch the firefighters?

How many minutes from the start of the fire until Flashover in an average home? Flashover is when everything in the room gets so hot that it bursts into flame.

Fire Sprinklers Make a HUGE, Lifesaving Difference

What was the difference in the smoke in each room?

Notice the room with the fire sprinkler did fill with smoke when the water turned to steam but it was a lighter color and did not leave soot on the walls. There were not large amounts of poisons in this smoke. The black, thick smoke in the second fire, however, got so thick that it began to block the camera’s view of the fire. In fact, the air near the floor was deadly about 50 seconds into the fire. Even though you could stay low under the smoke, there was too much carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen cyanide, and too little oxygen to sustain life.

What is the difference between a fire sprinkler applying water in the first two minutes of a fire and the firefighters applying water in the first ten minutes of a fire?

If there was a fire and you couldn’t get out of the house by yourself, would home fire sprinklers help?

Until you have Home Fire Sprinklers, having working, interconnected smoke alarms and a plan to get out is important.

Smoke alarms should be in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of the home. Carbon monoxide alarms should be on every level of the home. Alarms should be connected so that when one goes off they all go off. How many smoke alarms should your home have? How many do you have? Test them. How many are working? (Need help? Contact the American Red Cross at getasmokealarm.org)

If you cannot get out of the house through the hallways, try a window. BUT FIRST, CLOSE THE DOOR.

Can an ordinary bedroom door make a difference during a fire?

What was the heat reading on the closed bedroom door in the hallway and in the bedroom (2:43 in the video)?

What was the difference between the two bedrooms during and after the fire?

Did you notice that the flames did not enter either bedroom? What caused all of that damage?

Outside Meeting Place and Practice

The messages about crawling low under smoke and feeling the door are good but should not be the focus of your practice.  If there is any smoke, get behind a closed door in a room without smoke.

 (For ADULTS: more about planning your escape)

 

 

All Ages

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2cecHQY2Xs&list=PL69D1444B992E92E8

http://sparky.org/

https://sparkyschoolhouse.org/

https://www.ready.gov/kids

Need help getting smoke alarms? Contact the American Red Cross at getasmokealarm.org.

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