BURRILLVILLE – Today we launch the Home Safe Home Holiday Season campaign, reminding kids and families about home fire safety and burn prevention in homes and apartments.
This week’s Sunday Cartoon focuses on space heater safety. In order to help prevent unintentional burns, this coloring cartoon conveys the three feet away safety zone rule for little kids.
It probably would be a safe rule of thumb to avoid being near a space heater in your home and apartment no matter what your age may be. Burns can happen to anyone, not just little kids. As an adult, I would strongly recommend reading this Home Safe Home coloring cartoon and color in the images along with your child, or children, while discussing the fire safety and burn prevention tips.
Communication is key to helping keep kids and your family safer in the winter season. Space heaters are a common sight in people’s homes and apartments during this time of year. If you are utilizing a space heater in your home and apartment, please keep them away from all exits and room doorways. Also remember to keep space heaters away from furniture, clothing, curtains, decorations and close quarters to avoid a space heater fire. Do not plug space heaters directly into a surge protector, and make sure that they are plugged into electrical wall outlets.
Another fire safety and prevention tip is to never leave a space heater unattended when you leave your home, even if it is just for a short time. You can always turn your space heater back on when you return home. Wear a light jacket, sweatshirt or sweater until the room becomes warm again and you are staying home. If you happen to be reading this and are a firefighter, first responder, pediatric doctor or nurse, grade school nurse or teacher, librarian, daycare staff or family clinic doctor or nurse, feel free to print these out and pass them out to kids to help keep them safer in their homes. It could help prevent unintended burns and fires as well as potentially save a life.
Have a happy and safe holiday season.
Jim Weicherding is a Burrillville resident, and the founder and creator of an award-winning traffic safety effort Seasons of Safety. Weicherding contributes kids’ coloring cartoons, which can be printed and used to help parents discuss safety issues with their children. He has a long list of police officers and firefighters in his family and has worked with law enforcement and firefighters in a creative public safety capacity for more than two decades. Jim was recently appointed to Children Across America as their events and creative director for their child safety programs initiatives and outreach kids safety campaigns nationwide.
