Keeping Children Safe During a Fire

Already this year eleven children have lost their lives in house fires across the state.

To try to counteract that high total, the Zanesville Fire Department is educating both parents and kids on what to do in case of a house fire.

“We don’t take our pets, we don’t take our toys,” Hobson said. “We just get out of the house, we go to a special meeting place. That way there’s accountability for the children for the parents. First thing we do is check with the family and make sure everyone is out.”

One factor that can help alert people of a fire is a smoke detector. The persistent alarm alerts people to get out of the building, but sometimes people take out the batteries because they get annoyed by its loud sound.

“These are a life saving factor,” Hobson said. “It is a proven fact that smoke detectors save lives. We don’t need to take the batteries out of our smoke detectors when dinner is done or the oven’s smoking a little bit. They need to remain in and your children need to know that when a smoke detector goes off, it’s time to get out.”

Hobson said the fire department will be making an educational video in their smoke house to show how to properly exit a burning house.