Many parents probably feel that their children are in no immediate danger while in their house. However, children are especially vulnerable to particular safety hazards in the home and adults need to be able to identify these special hazards and know how to respond to them. Perhaps the most frightening home safety issue concerning children is fire. To many children, waking up surrounded by dark, black smoke in a burning house would be a nightmare come true. Natural disasters often cause home fires to start.
Many areas are naturally prone to electrical storms, brush fires, and even earthquakes.
Although natural disasters themselves may not be avoidable, there are ways to minimize the danger of fire caused by natural phenomena. Electrical storms are very dangerous. Torrential rains can cause flash floods and lightning strikes can topple trees, resulting in blocked roadways and fallen power lines. Closely related to the risk of lightning are brush fires. The best prevention against brush fires is to create an area around the home of any material that could start a fire.