Safety tips from Safe Kids Kansas
• Take the pledge and design your home escape plan at firemarshal.ks.gov/homefiredrillday
• Pick a family safety spot outside that’s near the home and a safe distance away.
• Make sure there’s a smoke alarm on every level of the home and one in each bedroom.
• Test smoke alarms with kids so they know what the beep sounds like.
• For children under six, assign an adult to help them.
• Use a timer to ensure everyone can get out to the safety spot in two minutes or less. This is how much time a family has to safely exit the house in the event of a real home fire.
• Prepare for the practice by drawing out a plan based on the exits around the home. Make sure you identify two exits out of each room.
Learning about what can prevent fires in a home or business is very important, and teaching children about fire prevention is even more so. This is what the Great Bend Fire Department did on Wednesday at Jefferson Elementary School.
This week is fire prevention week and the GBFD is visiting local schools to teach the children on how to prevent fires and what to in the case of a blaze in their homes.
“This week is very important to the children,” Fire Inspector Mark Orth said. “Today we are demonstrating on how to put out certain fires that can happen in the kitchen and how to use a fire extinguisher properly.”
The firefighters caught a pan of grease on fire to demonstrate to the kids on ways to put the out the fire. They also showed what not to use on the grease fire by applying water and flour.
According to the firefighters, these two things can cause the fire to rapidly spread throughout the kitchen.
All the students from the school were able to watch the demonstration. A teacher and a sixth-grade student were able to join in and use a fire extinguisher to put out a small fire in a pan.
According to the GBFD, every year the department participates in the Fire Prevention Week with different presentations that they change every year. This year, the fire department was able to hand out smoke detectors to all the sixth-grade students at Jefferson Elementary School with the help of a donation from a local business.
The GBFD also wants to let people know how important it is to check and replace batteries in smoke detectors throughout the home.
The GBFD will be doing presentations throughout the rest of the week at the schools throughout the community.
Smoke detectors
According to Office of the State Fire Marshal, install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of your home, including in the basement.
Smoke alarms with non-replaceable (long-life) batteries are designed to remain effective for up to 10 years.
If the alarm chirps, warning that the battery is low, replace the entire smoke alarm right away.
For smoke alarms with any other type of battery, replace batteries at least once a year. If that alarm chirps, replace only the battery. Date each unit when they are installed and replace them after ten years or sooner if they don’t successfully pass the test by sounding the alarm when the test button is pressed.
