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Start Safe: Fire Resources for Parents

Start Safe: Fire has lots of tips and tools for parents and caregivers to help keep kids safe from fires and burns at home. Start Safe: Fire will help your family make a home escape map, practice family fire drills to learn how to get out if there is a fire, and prevent fires and burns at home every day.

Fire is a serious issue and may be scary to some children. We recommend that you watch the Start Safe: Fire videos on your own, and then decide if they are appropriate for your children to watch with you. Be sure to look at the fun video, games and other materials designed especially for young kids, and enjoy them with your family.

Videos

Overview for Parents and Caregivers.  This video gives parents and caregivers  a quick overview of Start Safe: Fire and our many free, family-friendly materials designed to help keep families safe from fires and burns at home.  (TRT 2:47)

How to Prevent Fires and Burns at Home. It isn’t hard to prevent fires and burns at home.  Watch this video for simple steps you can take.  (TRT 6:09)

Planning and Practicing Home Fire Drills. Kids have fire drills at school; it is important to practice at home, too. Watch and learn how, in English and Spanish. (TRT 3:25)

Cause for Alarm: Will Smoke Detectors Wake Your Kids? – This segment from NBC’s TODAY Show may surprise some parents, as it shows how kids can sleep right through the sound of a smoke alarm. You can plan for this and make sure it doesn’t happen in your home. (TRT 4:38)

Can You Stop Children From Playing With Fire? – Learn why we should always put matches and lighters out if reach and out of sight of children. Watch this segment from NBC’s TODAY Show and see what preschoolers do with matches and lighters when the teacher leaves the room. (TRT 4:50)

Tips and Resources for Parents

Fire and Burn Safety Tips. Two pages of simple, useful tips can help parents and caregivers keep kids safe from fire and burn injuries.  In English and Spanish.

Safety Tips for Parents. More in-depth tips for parents focus on 12 different home safety topics.  In English and Spanish.

Fire Escape Plan. Use this tool with your children to draw the rooms in your home and note two exits from each room.  Mark the location of each smoke alarm. There should be one outside each room where someone sleeps. In English and Spanish.

Resources for Kids

The Start Safe: Fire video, games and other materials for children (especially ages 3-6) relate to the theme “I Spot Something Hot!” Rover the Home Safety Hound and Freddie Flashlight teach preschoolers about fire safety in a fun and engaging way. These materials are easy to reproduce, and most are available in English and Spanish.

Video and Audio Recordings

I Spot Something Hot!  In this fun, animated video, Rover the Home Safety Hound and Freddie Flashlight teach children to stay away from things at home that might cause fire and burns. (TRT 8:27)

Games

I Spot Something Hot! Activity Sheets – Simply print and fold the two pages to make a booklet. Children can mark where they see things that are hot in a kitchen, bathroom or living room, just as they learned from the I Spot Something Hot! video. 

Additional Activity Sheets – These fun tools will also help kids learn and remember important fire and burn safety lessons:

  • Rover’s Home Escape Map. Point to two ways out of each room on this home floor plan.
  • Code Red Rover, Grownup Come Over! Tell a story about what to do if you see matches or lighters.
  • Smoke Alarms Help Us. Practice what you know about smoke alarms.

Posters

Children will love these colorful posters:

Online Games

Play these games on a computer with your child.