October is National Fire Safety Month. Throughout the month of October, you will hear about your local public service departments help spread the word about fire safety!

Thanks to Kevin Calvo of the North Branch Fire Company Kangaroo Kids will have an opportunity to learn how to keep themselves and their families safe if they should every encounter a fire.  Firefighter Kevin will teach the children to stop, drop, cover and roll to protect their face in the event of a fire.  He will help the children feel comfortable with seeing a fireman is his full outfit and let them know the fireman is their friend and they should not hide if a fire occurs at their house but to get outside and call 911.  Thanks to Kevin for protecting and educating us for 23 years!

Kangaroo Kids has had a long history with the fire department.  The building that now houses Kangaroo Kids was home to the North Branch Firehouse in the 1050’s.  In 1997 the building was restored back to its original early 1900 use as a school.  Thanks to the North Branch fire company they continue to keep our community safe in their new location.

Families should not limit fire safety education to their schools or fire departments but take a proactive approach at home as well.

Create a fire escape route and run a family fire drill monthly. Remember to have a safe meeting spot away from the house for family members to meet.

Have working fire extinguishers in your home as well as smoke & carbon monoxide detectors.

Create a to go emergency bag and place it in an easily accessible place so you can grab it in the case of an emergency!

Make sure chemicals, matches and lighters are stored properly and away from children!

To learn more on fire safety for you and your children and how to create your own fire escape route, you can visit the websites below.

https://www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/outreach/children.html

http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/reproducibles/safetymap.htm

http://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Safety-in-the-home

http://www.sparky.org/parents

For more information about events at Kangaroo Kids call 908-231-7800 or visit our website at www.kangarookidschildcare.com.