Children do not seek danger – they simply play!
One of the reasons for the occurrence of fires is children's mischief with fire. But before we start our conversation, dear parents, try to honestly answer yourselves some questions. Have you ever left your child home alone? How long was the child home alone? An hour, half an hour, twenty minutes? Tell me, do you know that if a fire suddenly starts, even just a few minutes will be enough for the child to perish? It is unlikely that anyone of the parents has thought about this. As a rule, we are absolutely sure that this will not happen to me and my child, and all the moralizing conversations are not for me. Alas, the statistics are harsh and relentless.
In the Vitebsk region, over the past three years, there have been no child fatalities in fires.
However, unfortunately, in the context of the republic, 5 children died in fires in the past year 2022.
On January 11, during the day, the number "101" received a report from witnesses about a fire in an apartment on Turgeneva Street in Minsk. Upon arrival at the scene, the first units observed nothing unusual. During further reconnaissance, it was established that in the living room of a three-room apartment located on the second floor of a fourteen-story residential building, a fire broke out involving household items. At the time of the fire, a 6-year-old daughter of the owner was in the apartment - a pupil of one of the kindergartens in Minsk. The girl lives with her father and mother, who is not working. At the time of the fire, the father was at work, and the mother was at the clinic. According to neighbors, the residents are characterized as satisfactory. Rescuers found the owner's daughter unconscious on the floor in the living room. The girl was taken outside and handed over to the ambulance crew. After conducting cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the medical staff restored the child's heart activity. She was hospitalized by the ambulance team to the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Pediatric Surgery with the diagnosis: poisoning from combustion products, condition after clinical death. As a result of the fire, property in the living room was damaged, and the apartment was blackened. The cause of the fire is being established, the version being considered for the cause of the fire is violation of the rules for the operation of electrical networks and electrical equipment (short circuit of the extension cord). However, on February 2, the girl died in the hospital.
In the Lyakhavichy district, a child died in a fire. A terrible tragedy occurred on March 19. The report of a fire in a residential house in the village of Zubelyevichi was received by rescuers around half past ten in the morning on Saturday. It is known that the 22-year-old mother managed to save her older (4-year-old) child before the rescuers arrived. The younger child perished. The young woman, trying to extinguish the fire and save her son, suffered burns from flames covering 45% of her head, torso, and lower limbs of 1-3 degrees. The mother was taken to the intensive care unit of the Lyakhavichy Central District Hospital. The cause of the fire and the child's death is being established.
On May 3, 2022, at 07:28, the rescue service received a report of a fire in an apartment at the address: Zhlobin, microdistrict. Upon arrival at the scene, the Ministry of Emergency Situations workers established that there was heavy smoke in the apartment on the seventh floor, but no open flames were observed. The owner, born in 1980, lives with his wife, born in 1995, and 4 children. According to neighbors, the family is characterized positively. Rescuers entered the smoky apartment, found a child born in 2013 on the floor in the children's room, behind the bed, and carried him outside, handing him over to the ambulance staff. The ambulance staff conducted resuscitation measures, after which the child with the diagnosis "burns of the face, both hands, thermal inhalation trauma" in serious condition was hospitalized in the district health care institution. It turned out from the circumstances that the family was at home. The daughter informed the parents that there was a fire in the children's room. After that, the mother, taking three children, went outside and informed the rescuers about the fire, while in the room where the fire started, a child with psychophysical features remained. The owner, the landlady, and three minor children were unharmed and did not require medical assistance. The fire was extinguished by the rescuers. Evacuation of the residents of the apartment building was not conducted due to the absence of smoke in the apartments and on the stairwell. As a result of the fire, property in the room (sofa and bedding) was damaged, and the walls and property inside the apartment were blackened. The cause of the fire is being established. The version being considered for the cause of the fire is children's mischief with fire. It became known that on May 4 at 20:50, the boy died from burns and poisoning from combustion products.
A teenager died in a fire in Mogilev on August 13. According to preliminary data from the Investigative Committee, a fire broke out in a garage where two 15-year-old schoolboys were present, igniting fuel in a canister. As a result of the fire, one teenager died, and the other was hospitalized.
Preliminary investigations revealed that one of the boys smoked in the garage, the investigators reported. The final version will be known later: today witnesses are still being questioned, and the scene is being examined with the participation of employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Investigative Committee, and the State Committee for Forensic Expertise.
That is why we repeatedly appeal to you, dear parents, and try not just to provide examples from life, but to reach out to each one. You teach your children to be polite, care about their health, and want them to grow up smart and developed. But teaching them to follow safety rules is the most important task, because a child's life depends on it.
Why do fires occur due to children's mischief with fire? Considering each case of child fatalities, one understands that tragedies were accompanied by ordinary life circumstances – parents went to work, to the store, to neighbors, or were engaged in household chores in the yard. In other words, children were left unattended. And then comes the irreparable and cruel result of parental negligence: the death of a child.
Children often imitate the actions and behaviors of adults in their games. The desire for independence is especially manifested when a child is left alone. And one cannot be sure that a child, left alone at home, will not decide to play with a box of matches, will not want to set paper on fire, or will not be interested in the operation of household appliances, which are abundant in every apartment.
Therefore, before leaving home, it is necessary to entrust the supervision of the child to older children or to some adults. To keep the child from getting bored, it is advisable to give them some task: suggest a game theme, select the necessary toys. It is especially dangerous to leave children alone in locked apartments or rooms. In case of a fire, they will not be able to exit the burning room on their own. Moreover, in escaping from fire and smoke, children usually hide in closets, under beds, tables, and in corners of rooms. Finding children in the context of a developing fire is a difficult task.
Examples
Skills for careful handling of fire must be instilled in children, beginning at the age of 4-5 years. It is necessary to strive for the child to realize that matches are not toys, and fire is not a joke, so that they have an impression of fire as a serious disaster for people.
Preschool and younger school-age children, especially boys, love to use matches and flammable objects in their games. Children lack life experience, and therefore they cannot foresee the consequences of their actions. The most common games among children are those related to making fires. They choose appropriate places for making fires – far from parents' eyes – in attics, in sheds, basements, outbuildings, and near haystacks. While the fire is small, the child observes what is happening; as soon as the fire takes on frightening proportions, which happens within a few minutes, the natural reaction is fear, followed by the urge to hide. Fearing parental anger and punishment, some children run away and hide in another place. Most, however, covering their faces with their hands out of fear, remain forever in the fiery trap.
Children suffer from fire due to their unpreparedness. A child does not know how to behave in case of a fire, how to act, whom to ask for help, and most importantly, how to save themselves. And in this, adults are primarily to blame. Proper upbringing of children in the family, instilling in them skills for careful handling of fire, and organizing their leisure time are the keys to preventing fires and preventing child injuries. Children need to be taught the rules of safe handling of fire, not just told what is allowed and what is not. Unfortunately, in families, teaching children fire safety measures is often limited to prohibitive shouts: "Don't touch the matches, put the box back in place!", "Don't turn on the electric stove!", "Don't go near the gas stove!". However, children in everyday life have to, and this is quite natural, use gas and electric stoves, other electrical appliances (televisions, irons, etc.), - all those things that can cause a fire. Therefore, when communicating with children, the emphasis should be placed not on prohibitions, but on explanations.
Psychologists advise: use the word "no" as rarely as possible. Use "substitutes", for example, "dangerous". It is better to tell the child: "Be careful! Turning on the stove by yourself is dangerous! You can burn your hand. Let me help you." And in general, use the wonderful word "can" to redirect your child's attention. For example: "Turning on the electric kettle by yourself is not allowed, but you can do it if dad is nearby." Teach the child to use electrical appliances, the stove, but step by step and under supervision. This applies to any situation. It is better to use the word "can" more often to change your child's focus of attention.
Where and how the child spends their leisure time, who they befriend, what games they are interested in – these questions should be a constant concern for parents.
Instilling a sense of personal safety in a child should be done with a sense of proportion. Conversations on these topics should be conducted in a friendly manner. Learning will not be in vain if the peculiarities of child psychology and the individual characteristics of the child are taken into account, explaining and demonstrating through examples, games, films (cartoons), pictures, and real-life situations.
Explain what each device is for, how to use it correctly, and what precautions to take. Tell them that improper use of this device can cause a fire.
Once again, we draw parents' attention to the fact that children should not just be "protected from fire": do not leave them alone without supervision, do not allow them to play with matches and electrical appliances. It is necessary to teach children the rules of handling sources of fire and actions in case of a fire.
Measures to prevent fires from children's mischief:
- do not leave matches, lighters in plain sight;
- do not allow children to buy matches, cigarettes;
- monitor children's activities;
- do not leave children unattended;
- do not allow small children to observe burning stoves and heating appliances, or to use gas appliances;
- teach your child your home address and phone number so that in case of need they can call for help from the rescue service;
- write emergency service numbers on a piece of paper near the phone, and explain to the child under what circumstances they can be used.
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