Theme	Dangers of fire and appropriate behaviors
	Category	Relationships with the environment (house)

Real Life Situation

Why do children play with fire?

Children are naturally very curious about fire; they are spontaneously driven by the desire to explore their environment. With its colors, movement, heat and all the effects it produces, a fire is particularly attractive for a child; when she sees it, she feels the urge to touch it, blow it out, look at it and play with it. For a young child, a fire is also a symbol of joy. From the candle on a birthday cake to the marshmallows golden browned over the embers of a campfire, a child has many occasions to discover all the joys a fire can bring. Few children can imagine all the damages a fire can actually cause.

Children do not tend to be cautious with fire. Naively, they may believe they can safely play with matches or lighters. This belief is often confirmed by the fact that they have already seen adults or older children manipulate these items without any problems. It is only when they manipulate these items that they become aware of their lack of dexterity (e.g., children will burn their fingers while trying to light a match) and of the fire’s unpredictability (e.g., children are often surprised by the extent of the flames when paper or matches are lit).

Too young to figure out which behaviors should be adopted in such situations, children get helpless and often behave in a way that will only make things worse (e.g., try to blow out the fire, hide themselves thinking this will protect them from the flames, stay put thinking the fire will go away, etc.). Seventy per cent of fires are caused by children from 2 to 5, that played with matches, candles or lighters. Children may also be confronted to fires caused by adults (e.g., when they smoke in bed, when they forget something on the stove or fail to pay enough attention to the fire in the fireplace).

Even though we may think a 4-year-old child is too young to protect herself against fires, fire prevention drills have been experimented with young children and results indicate that the occurrence of fires can be reduced by teaching children how to behave in case of fire. The parent has therefore an important role to play in protecting his child against the risks of fire.

Tips for Parents

How can you protect your child against the risks of fire?

• Teach your child what she can and cannot do with fire.
  First of all, you can teach your child what she can and cannot do with fire, do it when she’s near a fireplace or a lit candle for instance. Do not let your child touch the flame, manipulate a candle or place objects over a fire.
  


• Do not let your child be near a fire or a candle without supervision and do not let smokers items within her reach.
  Do not overestimate your child’s ability to respect your rules about fire. Flames are very attractive and your child, urged by her desire to touch or experiment, will forget about them fairly quickly.
  


• Have a smoke detector.
  Make sure your smoke detector is correctly installed. Test your detector regularly and change its batteries twice a year, when we change our clocks in Spring and in Fall for instance.
  


• Have a fire evacuation plan ready.
  It is important to explain the plan to your child and to practice from time to time. Remind your child to get out of the house as soon as the smoke detector alarm goes off and when there is a lot of smoke. Give her a meeting place outside the house.
  


• Teach your child what to do in case of fire.
  Explain to your child what she should do in case of fire:
  
  
  
  • Alert an adult by immediately calling for help;
  • Go to the nearest exit, as indicated on the evacuation plan, and leave the place immediately if the fire gets worse;
  
  
  • Go to the meeting place.