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.
Today’s topic isn’t something we chat about on here very often, but it is something that Mark and I have discussed numerous times with our kids and with each other- fire safety. October is National Fire Prevention Month, so I felt it was a great time to partner with First Alert and chat about ways to best prepare our homes and our families for fire safety.
I’m going to share a few specifics in a bit, but first, let’s talk about the basics- smoke alarms. A simple rule to remember is to have a smoke alarm on every level of your home and in every bedroom. We moved into this home two years ago and have mentioned so many times that we need to replace our smoke alarms. It’s crazy to think, but alarms don’t last forever and should be replaced every ten years. As I was doing my research, I discovered that 3 out of 5 home fire deaths occur in homes with no working smoke alarms. First Alert makes it easy because they created a smoke alarm with a 10 year sealed battery so you don’t have to worry about a faulty battery/dead battery. As always, you should still test your smoke alarms regularly.
Another important thing to do, is to plan and practice an emergency escape plan regularly with your family. In this home, there are three levels with someone sleeping on each level. We all need to know how to escape our rooms in case of a fire. Obviously, the best case scenario is out the bedroom door and through the front door, but it doesn’t always unfold that conveniently. Kids need to know how to exit a window or secondary escape. Talk with your kids and practice your plan.
We have talked about fire escape for years with the kids. One thing to ensure is that every person knows that when they escape they need to go to a family meeting spot. In our last house it was across our big yard at the playset. Here, it is on our neighbor’s deck. This is important because you, as a parent, can quickly see if each of your kids are accounted for.
First Alert provided us with a Fire Safety Checklist and a badge for Fire Prevention Month. You can download those for your own family, as well (see the bottom of this post)! We sat in our living room and went over the lists with our kids. They even got a badge once we finished the checklist. This isn’t a fun topic, but it’s a necessary topic, so I hope you will check your alarms and put a plan in place for your family.
I remember when I got married my parents gave us fire extinguishers. I wasn’t too thrilled about them then, but now I make sure to have a fire extinguisher available throughout our home, especially under the kitchen sink in case of a kitchen fire. To be honest, I am always a bit concerned that in the heat the moment I won’t remember how to use my extinguisher, so I read the label every so often to refresh my memory.
My hope in writing this post is to encourage families to be as best prepared as they can be. As I said before, the checklist and badge are below for you to download for your family.
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