Tonight has been one hell of a night.  I tried to get home from work and my street was blocked with firetrucks, firemen, and tons of people.  Our neighbor’s house caught fire and the back of the house burned.  Fortunately no one was hurt and only things were lost. 

Helping them retrieve items from their home once the fire was out was very heart wrenching.  Through all of this however, looking over across the street where their three children were playing and laughing was enough to bring a smile to your face through all this craziness.  They are young enough that they don’t understand the devastation behind the front door so they were enjoying being outside after dark playing with the other neighborhood kids.  That fire could have turned very tragic in only a matter of seconds and watching all those kids playing and laughing made me stop and thank God for keeping everyone safe tonight.  After going home I hugged my kids a little bit tighter because you never know when something could happen. 

The only good thing that came out of this tragedy tonight was our renewed awareness of home safety.  My kids and I talked about what we should have in our home for safety and what some other things to think about might be.  After discussions and a lot of surfing the web, here is a list of things we came up with for our family.

• Check the batteries in every smoke detector often (sources we found said every 6 moths)
• Place smoke detectors near bedrooms
• Test smoke detectors each month to make sure they are working properly
• Keep hallways and exits empty for easy evacuation.
• Have an ABC type fire extinguishers on each level of your home and know how and when to use them.
• Have an escape plan and a meeting place
• Practice your escape plan
• Be sure your home number is visible from the street so emergency vehicles can find you.

Infographic from LibertyMutual.com

Whether your child is 2 or 20 you need to continue to reinforce home safety to them.  Lead by example and your children will follow. 

Do you have an escape plan and a family meeting place?