Fire Safety Lessons from a Terrifying Wildfire: How I Now Teach My Kids, Kidde CFA 2025

BC Parent Article – Jessi Cruickshank

A Night of Panic: Escaping the Palisades Wildfires

Earlier this year, the Palisades wildfires tore through the Los Angeles area, displacing thousands of people from their homes. I never thought that my family would be caught in the smoke of one of the most destructive fires in California history.

When we were evacuated from our home, it was total panic. Grabbing our screaming kids out of their beds, ripping paintings off the walls, and shoving everything in the back of our car. And then in a moment of pure chaos, I turned back… not for sentimental baby photos or precious family heirlooms, but for my kid’s pet lizard.

By the time I had returned to the car, our neighborhood was swallowed in thick smoke. My 7-year-old twin boys were crying, and my husband was driving, so I basically tossed our lizard to my 3-year-old daughter (who had no idea what was going on and was therefore the calmest person in the car). I thought to myself: “If your toddler is the most trustworthy person in your family, something has gone VERY wrong.” 

The Wake-Up Call: Why Families Need a Fire Safety Plan

Driving out of a city engulfed in flames, the truth hit: I never once talked to my family about what to do in the case of a fire… and I mean really talk about it. We had NO plan. My kids do 10 fire drills per year in school and we had done ZERO in our home. If I’m being honest, I thought our smoke alarms were enough… and if I’m being really honest, I thought it would never happen to us.

Finding Solutions: Kidde’s Cause For Alarm Program

I needed a way to engage my twin boys and get them involved in making a plan. I needed to find the Minecraft of fire safety initiatives…. That’s when I discovered Kidde’s Cause For Alarm program, an annual fire safety initiative that helps address gaps in education and access to fire safety resources. We now have a fire safety plan that my kids want to practice every day… and this time, it includes our lizard.

My Top Tips for Teaching Kids About Fire Safety

1. Try Kidde’s Prepare. Plan. Practice Tool

Our kids are growing up in a digital world. Technology isn’t just a part of their lives, it’s their language. So instead of asking them to put down the screens, why not bring the learning onto the screen in a way that actually excites them? Kidde’s Prepare. Plan. Practice is a free digital fire drill simulator that Canadians can use to learn fire safety tips and practice their escape plan at home. It uses augmented reality and gamified learning to bring fire education to families in a new way.

Your journey with the tool starts by opening your phone’s camera to show what your home could look like filled with smoke (my kids LOVE this part. Then in ‘Learn Mode,’ you explore your space while engaging with interactive fire safety modules. Suddenly you’re dropped into “Practice Mode”, where you’re put to the test in a race to escape your smoke-filled home in under two minutes. The tool does not suggest you choose a superhero character for this part, but… I do! It works for my kids every time. In the end, you’re brought to the Safety Hub, directing you to other resources to further your fire safety education.

• Bonus Tip: I suggest challenging your kids to beat their time to further gamify the experience. Now what used to feel like a boring topic becomes a high-stakes mission. They want to beat their best time. They want to try it again. They want to learn, and whether they know it or not, they’re prepared in the event of a home fire.

2. Draw a Fire Escape Plan Together

Remember how fun it was to make treasure maps as a kid? Channel that energy. Sit down with your little ones, grab some crayons, stickers, glitter, and sketch out your house together. Label the rooms, draw your exits, and mark a big X where your outside meeting spot is. Now you’ve killed two birds with one stone: you’ve prepared them for a fire emergency and made a beautiful art project (to put on the pile with the MANY OTHERS you promise you’ll put up on a wall one day).

3. Ask Your Kids to Be a Leader

Children love to feel like leaders, so let them be one. Appoint your child as an official “Fire Captain” of your household. You can even use it as an opportunity to play dress up – put on a fire hat or bunker gear to take it a step further. Give them the job of helping to remind the family to test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms each month, or lead the family fire drill. When they take the lead, they’re not just playing, they’re learning and growing.  

4. Repeat One Fire Safety Rule Each Week

Repetition builds retention, especially for kids. Pick a month out of the year (I recommend Fire Prevention Month in October) and make it a weekly tradition to focus on just one fire safety rule at a time. Each week, ask your child to recall the rule, explain it in their own words, or even teach it to another family member. For example: “What do we do if we hear the smoke alarm?” By spacing out learning, you help your child retain the information in a way that feels manageable.

5. Expand your Arsenal of Fire Safety Resources

Fire safety education doesn’t have to be limited to the same old pamphlets or classroom handouts. There are so many creative, hands-on ways to help your kids learn about fire safety. 

• Visit your local fire station: Many fire stations host open houses or community days where families can meet firefighters, learn about fire prevention, and even explore a real fire truck. These in-person visits leave a lasting impression and help children connect fire safety with real-world scenarios – it’s like Paw Patrol in real life.
• Tap into digital resources at CauseForAlarm.org/Canada: The site is packed with age-appropriate tools, activities, and tips to help kids and parents build confidence in their fire safety knowledge.

At the end of the day, we can’t protect our kids from everything but we can help prepare them… and that peace of mind is everything. In my home, I try to lead with fun. After one of the most terrifying nights of my life… I’m finding ways to make fire safety just that – a fun, engaging part of our routine.

Now if you’ll excuse me, Spider Man, Dogman and Chase want to do another fire drill in their pajamas.