Fire Safety

Smoke inhalation is one of the leading causes of death in children. Your baby is helpless in a fire emergency, so you’ll want to plan effectively and take all precautions.

• Install smoke detectors where smoke is likely to travel (basement, kitchen and stairways). The alarm should be loud enough to cause your baby to wake up and cry.
• Check smoke detector batteries monthly, and change them at least twice a year. An easy-to-remember plan is to change batteries when you turn the clocks ahead and back each year.
• Put at least one fire extinguisher on every floor of your home and one in the kitchen.
• Maintain all heating equipment. Have your furnace inspected regularly, and change the filter at least once a year.
• Create a fire emergency plan. Decide in advance who will get the baby in case of an emergency.
• Keep chain or rope ladders near windows.
• Draw an escape floor plan with arrows from each room showing escape routes to at least two exits. Make the routes as short as possible.
• Practice fire drills with the entire family and all babysitters.
• Never leave a small child alone in your home for any reason or any length of time.
• Use only fire-resistant sleepwear.
• Do not use space heaters while your family is asleep.
• Have your fireplace chimney cleaned and inspected once each year.
• Only burn logs in your fireplace. Never burn paper or garbage.
• Teach children how to exit a burning building by staying close to the ground and feeling a door before entering another room (if the door feels hot, do not open).
• Teach children to stop, drop and roll (drop to the ground and roll back and forth) if clothes are on fire. Explain that running could make the fire burn faster.