An interactive lesson on “Fire Safety at Home”

According to a well-known legend, PROMETHEUS gave fire to humanity by stealing it from Olympus. Fire has significantly changed people's lives as it became a reliable companion and helper. Today, it is hard to imagine any branch of human activity where fire is not used. However, careless handling of fire can lead to disaster. Statistics show that more than 5 million fires occur annually in the world. Every hour one person dies in the fire, two are injured. Every third victim is a child.

Fires often start due to children and teenagers playing with fire, but disasters also occur due to a lack of knowledge about basic fire safety rules. Therefore, it is essential to systematically educate children, both in the classroom and at home, on how to handle fire hazards, and what to do during a fire to avoid big trouble.

Since the beginning of the year, 24 people have died as a result of fires in our East Kazakhstan region, with no child fatalities. 4 people died from carbon monoxide poisoning, again with no child fatalities.  A total of 27 people were affected by carbon monoxide, which is 3 times higher compared to the same period last year. There were 7 children among those affected. The main causes of carbon monoxide poisoning were cracks and gaps in the furnaces and closed flaps.

Taking into account the relevance of this issue, on November 8, 2023, Orken East Kazakhstan Regional Scientific and Methodological Center for Informatization and Education Development of Education Administration of East Kazakhstan region, jointly with Emergency Situations Department of East Kazakhstan region held an interactive lesson on the topic: “Fire safety at home”, where Anastasia Sklyar, a chief expert of the Department, communicated online with learners of East Kazakhstan region. Over one and a half thousand children from schools of the region participated in the event.

The lesson covered important issues of fire safety, such as operating heating stoves, disposing of ash residue, handling matches, safely using household electrical appliances. Special attention was given to the evacuation procedures and behavior in case of fire.

Detailed explanations and practical examples were provided in response to the questions asked by the children.