Prepare Your Child for Cooking and Staying Home Alone With These Fire Extinguisher Safety Tips

Posted on: 11 April 2017

As your kids get older and start cooking on their own or staying home alone, it's critical that they have fire safety skills. In particular, you may want your child to learn how to use a fire extinguisher. Here are some tips to help you.

1. Look for a Lightweight Fire Extinguisher

Fire extinguishers come in a range of sizes, and if you want your child to be able to use yours safely, you may want to look for a relatively small, lightweight fire extinguisher. Some pre-teens and teens may be able to handle a full size extinguisher, but others simply don't have the strength. Ultimately, you can decide what your child needs.

2. Have a Training Session With Your Child

To ensure your child can handle the weight of the fire extinguisher and to ensure they know how to use it, you should have a hands-on training session. With adults, you can often train them to use a fire extinguisher without actually letting them deploy the extinguisher. Most kids need a more hands on approach if you want them to remember the lesson.

Remember, you can only use most fire extinguishers once. As a result, you will need to get the extinguisher serviced and refilled after your training session.

3. Make Sure Your Child Understands Different Types of Extinguishers

Ideally, you should buy a fire extinguisher that works on a range of fires. For instance, you need one that can work on smoldering furniture as well as grease fires. However, if you have a fire extinguisher that only works on a single type of fire, make sure that your child understands that. To be on the safe side, you may want to display a sign next to the extinguisher as a reminder.

4. Position in a Convenient Spot

Also, keep your child in mind when you position the fire extinguisher. Make sure that it's low enough for your child to reach, and that there are no locks or obstacles that make it hard to access.

5. Make Sure Caretakers Know How to Use the Fire Extinguisher

For times when you leave your child at home with a caretaker, you should also ensure that the caretaker knows how to use the extinguisher. With a quick reaction time and a knowledgeable user, a fire extinguisher can easily put out many small home fires before they get large and start to spread.

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