Tanker 463; Fire Season 2017

Tanker 463; Fire Season 2017
Photo by Bill Barr - CLICK ME!

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Learn Not to Burn

Did you know that historically (2002-2021) 0.6% (260 fires) of wildfires here in Pennsylvania were caused by children? In 2021 0.8% of wildfires (11 fires) were caused by children. With that being said, today we’d like to switch gears a little bit when talking about Fire Prevention to bring your attention to the Learn Not to Burn program.

The National Fire Protection Association has provided this program for more than 40 years. The Learn Not to Burn program was specifically designed to educate children with positive, practical fire safety messaging. There are four different stages of the Learn Not to Burn program, starting with Preschool and ending with Second Grade.

NFPA created the Learn Not to Burn Preschool Program in 1991 to address the high risks children under the age of five face regarding fatal home fires. This program uses movement, music, literacy, and dramatic play to provide an age-appropriate (3–5-year-old) learning experience.

The main point of the program is to instill in young children that firefighters are community helpers, that smoke alarms are important, to get out and stay out when they hear a smoke alarm, practice fire drills with family, to stay away from hot things, and to tell a grown-up if they see matches or lighters.


The kindergarten program builds on and reinforces the lessons taught in the Preschool Program. Going into a little more depth that is appropriate for the age group. This program also goes over fire drills in school.

The first-grade program follows most of what the first two programs discussed, including the importance of smoke alarms, fire drills, and, staying away from hot things. What’s new with this stage is how to report an emergency and knowing when to stop, drop and roll.


The second-grade program also follows certain portions of the first-grade program, including the importance of fire alarms, home fire drills, reporting emergencies, staying away from hot things, and, knowing when to stop, drop and roll. This program brings in the concept of kid-free zones in the home.


Each stage of the program recommends involving the local fire department in some way to help children understand more of what is being taught to them.

If you are interested in these programs, you can download them for free from the NFPA website by clicking here.





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