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Fire safety and burns - identifying high-risk situations
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Children are at increased risk for serious fire and burn injuries and death because they have thinner skin than adults, resulting in more serious burns at lower temperatures. Most burns and fire injuries and deaths occur in the home. By knowing the high-risk situations for fires and burns and taking steps to make your home safer, you can help protect your child from fire and burn injuries or death.
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| Age |
Injury Type |
Risk Factors |
| < 5 Years |
Flame |
Children younger than 5 are at an increased risk due to playing with matches, cigarette lighters, fires in fireplaces, barbecue pits, and trash fires. |
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Scald |
Children younger than 5 are at an increased risk due to kitchen injury from tipping scalding liquids, bathtub scalds associated with lack of supervision, or child abuse. The greatest number of pediatric burn patients are infants and toddlers younger than 3 years of age burned by scalding liquids. |
| 5 to 10 Years |
Flame |
Male children are at an increased risk often due to fire play and risk-taking behaviors. |
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Scald |
Female children are at increased risk with most burn injuries likely to occur in the kitchen or bathroom. |
| Adolescent |
Flame |
Male peer-group activities involving gasoline or other flammable products increase the risk of injury and death among adolescents. |
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Electrical |
Injury occurs most often in male adolescents involved in dare-type behaviors, such as climbing utility poles or antennas. In rural areas, injury may be associated with moving irrigation pipes that touch an electrical source. | |
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High-risk situations can include: |
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- Failing to install and maintain working smoke alarms.
- Leaving children unattended in the home, especially in the kitchen or bathroom.
- Providing easy access to matches, gasoline, lighters, or other flammable products.
- Failing to establish an escape plan.
- Working with hot foods or liquids around toddlers and infants.
- Failing to check the temperature of tap water and/or not lowering the water heater thermostat to 120° F or below.
- Allowing children to handle fireworks.
- Exposing electrical outlets and cords.
- Allowing children near kerosene lamps, space heaters, or outside grills.
- Leaving supplemental heating equipment on while adults and children are asleep.
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