Daycare Fire

[Christina72684]

A daycare about half an hour away had a terrible fire this morning. The DC opens at 5am and the fire happened around 6:30am. There was the DC owner and 6 kids there at the time. A child around 1yr old died in the fire while sleeping in a pack-n-play.

I cannot even IMAGINE what everyone involved is going through....the DC provider and her family, the families involved, the kids that were there, the fire fighters that found the child, etc.

So many people are scrutinizing the daycare saying how she had too many kids, when they have no clue what they are talking about! We practice fire drills here monthly, but I still don't think we could ever be prepared enough if something like that happened. Some days we have 12 kids here and 6 of them don't walk with 2 employees. What would they do if there was a fire? Which kids do you grab first? How would the kids react?

We have about 2-3" of snow and some ice outside. It was probably near 0 out at that time in the morning and dark out. I bet everyone was terrified! I know I would be

[CraftyMom]

So sad! And eye opening that it could happen at any time

[Heidi]

oh dear! That is so sad!

I worry about it occasionally, too. At nap time, I have 4 kiddos in 4 different rooms. 3 walk, but at 15m, 15m, and 2 1/2, I don't know that this would help. Of course, when I practice fire drills, it's when they're awake and all in one room. I can't really wake them up to do it. We do have smoke detectors in every room, and they are interconnected.

One illegal provider here had (finally shut down) TWELVE children by herself (and I watched 6 more get off the school bus as I drove out). Can you imagine? Quite a few of them where pre-walkers, too!

[melilley]

How sad. I feel for the families and provider.

We had a house fire 2 years ago. I didn't have the dc at the time, but I had 3 kids here and it happened at night. Dh was sleeping and the kids and I were about to watch a movie when I saw flames outside (we had a shed attached to the house, it was an electrical fire from an outlet in the shed). I woke my dh up thankfully we all got outside. I have to say that embarrassingly, when the fire first started, the kids didn't realize what was going on and just sat on the couch and I didn't really think about yelling at them to get out-it was outside, but attached to the house and to this day I yell at myself about not yelling at them to get out. But the smoke detectors never went off either. The fire spread so fast.

As for people scrutinizing the dc provider, who knows what went on. When something like that happens, for some people, no matter how many times you practice, you're never fully prepared. And fires spread very fast. I can have 6 kids here and like you said, how do you know where or who to go to first, so many factors to consider.

[lovemykidstoo]

Oh my heart goes out to everyone. That is horrendous. You never know how you will react. Depends on where the fire is, where the kids are, if the kids all freak out and run in different directions etc. That is just horrible. I think if I had to, I would just toss kids out the windows (first floor of course) if I couldn't carry them all. Better to be tossed into a snowbank then left hoping I can get back to them. Prayers sent out.

[daycare]

my husband was/is a firefighter. he makes my staff and I practice once a month different types of situations, but he says that it will never be the same exact situation, so we just have to learn to do what we can the best we can. NO matter what we do, if we can't save them all no fault to us, we will be put down for it.

accidents happen out of our control. we can do everything in our power to stop them, but not every situation is preventable.

every week I check my gas, furnace, burners, stove pilot etc, but something can still go wrong.


this is so sad and i feel for this provider

[SilverSabre25]

My heart goes out to everyone involved.

A long time ago I was thinking it over and came to the sobering conclusion that, at the time when my DS was a baby and not walking, that if a fire broke out I would probably save all the dcks first and come back for DS. Let's face it. The news wouldn't care if a provider's OWN child was injured or killed, but you'll be lambasted by everyone in the city if a dck gets injured or killed--especially if you saved your own child first.

It makes me tear up thinking about it even now, but my feelings are the same. And I pray with all my heart that I never have to act on that.

[angiescott]

Oh my goodness, where was this at? I'm in Indiana also.

[daycare]

My heart goes out to everyone involved.

A long time ago I was thinking it over and came to the sobering conclusion that, at the time when my DS was a baby and not walking, that if a fire broke out I would probably save all the dcks first and come back for DS. Let's face it. The news wouldn't care if a provider's OWN child was injured or killed, but you'll be lambasted by everyone in the city if a dck gets injured or killed--especially if you saved your own child first.

It makes me tear up thinking about it even now, but my feelings are the same. And I pray with all my heart that I never have to act on that.

gotta agree with you, this is so true..............

[Unregistered]

Heart breaking.

All sleep in the same room here, and yes I would grab my one and only in the first run. Town people may talk yes and never forgive me. I could move. My husband and extended family would likely not forgive. I have decided that if I ever lost a child in care, even if by no fault of my own, then I would be done.

[daycarediva]

I WOULD die to try to save a child, even one that isn't my own. but I would save my own child first. I am being 100% honest. I did daycare when my ds was first born and my GAME PLAN was to grab him first and then get the other kids (dd was old enough to understand, listen and help get kids out, too.)

NYS only allows 2 under 2 for this reason. We can only carry (feasibly) two kids at a time.

All of my kids are walkers, and sleep down a hallway during nap (first floor). I leave the window to that room unlocked so that if a fire happened in between us, it would take me LITERALLY 30 seconds to get to them from outside the house if I couldn't get to them from inside.

My BIL was a firefighter, and he even said that regs (having to leave the door open) are stupid in this regard. If the fire is in the room the kids sleep in, there is almost no chance of them getting out alive with the door open or closed. If the door is closed and the fire is in an adjacent room or hallway, the door would block the fire and I could get to them from outside. But again, I don't break regs.

[MotherNature]

Oh my goodness, where was this at? I'm in Indiana also.

Just found it-Sullivan, about 80 miles SW of Indy.

[TwinKristi]

Someone posted a comment about finding a daycare that cares about the kids on their news page like that jackhat has any idea what it takes to provide care for 6+ kids! It's entirely possible the fire was too big and she couldn't go back in to get the baby. The baby died from smoke inhalation so you can't say going in would have saved her. She may have died before they even got out of the house! It's incredibly horribly sad but this IS exactly why they limit infant care to only 2. Whoever dealt with the pissy mom who was mad that she would accept a non-walking 18 month old or whatever... THIS is why!! It endangers a child if there's a fire and they can't walk.

[MCC]

This is horrible, so sad.

My assistant and I were just talking about getting more serious about our fire drills. We do them once a month, but it's always ideal timing. I think it would really benefit us to do one during nap time. We have 5 under 1, which is fine as far are regs are concerned, but if they were all sleeping, I think it would take a little organization to get them out.

[rosieteddy]

What about the evacuation cribs? When I took a year hyatis from family child care and worked in a center we sat or laid up to 6 infants in one and pushed it out the building.It was quick and manageable.