Time Well Spent: A Home Fire Drill

Our oldest daughter just started big-kid school and while she’s still adjusting to the morning drop off, her daily play-by-play around the dinner table is something we’re all enjoying.  She’s been sharing stories about the things they are learning, telling us what everyone had for recess, re-capping the books they read and more.  

Over the weekend she shared a story in great detail about a fire drill they had at school – how they had to walk slowly, stay together, go all the way out to the sidewalk – you get the picture.   

Of course, the whole conversation got me thinking, and before long we were conducting our own fire drill at home.  My husband changed the batteries in our smoke detectors and we practiced going to the nearest door depending on where we were in the house.  We set off the smoke detector so the girls knew what it sounded like and talked about different scenarios and what to do for each of them. 

Both our kids are still pretty little so we didn’t get into too much detail and tried to keep the whole discussion pretty basic so they would understand the key safety measures to take during a fire.   It didn’t take long but was definitely time well spent and something you should consider doing with your family as well.

Here are a few links to help you get started:

A great video about how to plan your own home fire drill.

Some fun activities to incorporate into your fire drill plan.

A fun site for kids to learn more about fire safety through games and activities

The HRM Fire Prevention Site has lots of useful links – from a babysitter’s guide to a home safety checklist.  Check it out for sure.