By Tom Kiurski
妈ny fires are caused simply by a combination of a small child’s curiosity and the availability of matches or a lighter. Some lighters on the market today, called novelty lighters, are visually appealing to children. They are functional pens, rolling cars, and small tools. Don’t let the parents in your city be fooled by these items, which are appealing directly to their children. The resulting fires have some of the most disastrous consequences because of a child’s inability to understand that the match they had just lit is what caused the fire that destroyed their house.
向您的成年听众建议，如果他们在家中有小孩，他们应该将比赛和打火机保持在孩子的范围内。当我问儿子，然后在三年级，他是否可以从学校获得比赛时，这一点的重要性就出现在我身上。他毫不犹豫地回答说他可以 -三年级的呢尽管比赛/打火机将被带出来，以揭示家中那些“友好的大火”，但敦促父母与孩子们谈论比赛和打火机如何是工具，而不是玩具。让他们知道，随着年龄的增长，他们将被教导使用比赛和打火机开始友好火灾的正确方法。许多孩子看到了精美的蜡烛和生日蛋糕，上面装饰着大火，为家庭聚会提供了乐趣。他们需要知道，尽管他们可以成为比赛和打火机的助手，但他们将仅在年纪较大时就可以学习如何正确使用它们。目前，让孩子们通过确保在预期的火区附近没有可燃物，或者让他们在完成后吹出比赛或蜡烛，从而确保防火安全，以解释消防安全的重要性。
Children must also know the proper action to take when they see their friends with matches or lighters, or when they find matches or lighters within their reach. They should get away from them and tell an adult. As adults, we must be sure to praise the child for taking proper actions when confronted with these situations, and emphasize that they will be taught how to use them when they are old enough.
During your next speaking engagements to adult audiences, be sure to include how important it is to keep matches and lighters away from children. Parents will be glad you did.
Tom Kiurski is a lieutenant, a paramedic, and the director of fire safety education for Livonia (MI) Fire & Rescue. His book,Creating a Fire-Safe Community: A Guide for Fire Safety Educators(Fire Engineering, 1999), is a guide for bringing the safety message to all segments of the community efficiently and economically.
