Many families forget to talk about fire safety until it is too late. This is even something that we have not done enough of, though we have had a few talks and a few trial runs with our daughter. My husband has always been very afraid of fire, more-so than the average person, so it is something that he thinks about all the time. He is twice as paranoid now that we have a young girl to think about, and he makes sure that things are safe. That is one part of fire safety that many forget to consider.

Though you may have considered escape routes from your home, have you thought enough about being warned of the fire in the first place? Many talk with their kids about how to get out and where to go, but they don’t think about the placement of the fire alarms and the batteries within. If you don’t keep up with the batteries, all the smoke alarms in the world are not going to do you or your family any good. If there aren’t enough of them, you might not get warned of a fire as quickly as you could. You also have to consider where you are going to go.

Fire safety means having a plan that tells you that you should all meet somewhere, but is it a good place? You may not realize that you have chosen a spot that is too close to the house, or that you may have chosen something that is not easy to find in the middle of the night. If you have a neighbor across the street, that might be a good idea, but if you have a place that does not require you to run across a street at night, that might be better. Young children can easily get confused about what way to go.

Fire safety also means that your children need to know to call 911, but they should probably not do it until they are clear of the house. You don’t want them to take the time to pick up the phone when they should be making their way out of the house. You should also teach them about what to do if your neighbors house is burning.

I know our neighbors house is too close for comfort. If it were to burn, we would be in great danger. They have to know to get out of their own house if the one next to you is up in flames. Teaching your children about fire safety is not pleasant, but it is something you should do often, and you can’t leave anything to chance.