Celebrate Fire Prevention Week with the Lion King’s Timon and Pumbaa

This week October 4-10th is Fire Prevention Week. Fire prevention and fire safety is something that every family should talk about on a regular basis.

The dynamic “Lion King” duo, Timon and Pumbaa, are back and are excited to help your family to stay fire smart with laughter, music, and a lot of great safety lessons. “Disney’s Wild About Safety with Timon and Pumbaa: Safety Smart About Fire” is a great way to introduce or remind your family what to do in a fire emergency.

During the twelve minute video, “The Lion King’s” Timon and Pumbaa help parents and children understand what to do in a fire emergency.  From smoke alarms, fire escape plans and preventative measures such as not playing with matches, Timon and Pumbaa review their Safety Smart® Checklist full of valuable and life-saving fire safety information. You can even view the video at www.safetysmartdvd.com during the month of October.

The video was wonderful. From the moment that it came on, the kids were silent and watched these beloved characters. They were even singing the song at the end.

This year’s Fire Prevention Week is centered around the theme of Burn Prevention Awareness and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is helping families identify those scary burn “hot spots” in their homes. With two small girls running around my house, burn “hot spots” are something that always have me worrying.

Burn prevention tips from UL:

* Create a kid-free zone in the kitchen. Keep kids about three feet away from the stove — if possible — while adults are cooking. Place a kitchen rug to identify the kid-free zone.
* Keep the pots in back. Cook on the back burners. Never leave a pot on the stove within reach of a child as children have a tendency to reach up and grab anything in their line of sight.
* Test the bath water first — if the water is too hot for you, it’s too hot for your child. Before bath time, make sure your child’s bath water isn’t too hot. An adult should be able to place his or her arm in the water for 30 seconds without discomfort. To cool the bath water down, run some cold water before your child gets in.

Take some time this week to talk to your children about fire prevention and fire safety. Make certain that they know what to do and that you have a family plan.