A bedroom door shut for the nightSleep with your bedroom door closed. A dark hall, a shut door and a strip of light beneath it.
A card by the phone with the home address in big numbersThe 911 operator needs to know where you live. A card, a house number and a street name.
A cutaway house with an alarm sounding in every roomWith linked alarms, when one sounds they all sound. Slice the house open and ring each alarm.
A dotted ring on the floor round a hot stoveStay 3 feet from anything that gets hot. The ring is the line: toys and feet stay outside it.
A family walking out of the front door on a practice drillPractise the plan with everyone in the home. A line of people, the smallest holding a hand.
A finger pressing the test button, sound lines all roundTest the alarm every month. One finger, one button and three curved lines on each side.
A grown-up on a step stool changing an alarm batteryA 9-volt battery is changed at least once a year. The cover hangs open, the old battery in one hand.
A hand feeling a closed doorFeel a door before you open it. If it is hot, use your other way out. One flat hand on the wood.
A heater with a clear space all round itAnything that can burn stays 3 feet from a heater. Curtains, a chair and a rug wait outside the gap.
A home escape map with two ways out of every roomDraw the floor plan with every door and window, then arrow two ways out of each room.
A meeting place in front of the houseChoose an outside meeting place in front of your home. A tree or a mailbox with the family beside it.
A phone showing 911, held on the pavement outsideCall 911 once you are outside. The house sits small behind and the caller stands at the meeting place.
A smoke alarm on a ceiling with its test buttonAlarms go in every bedroom and on every level. A disc, a ring of slots and one small button.
A teddy left on the sill while its owner waits outsideOnce you are out, stay out. Do not go back for anything. The toy inside, the child at the meeting place.
A wall calendar with Test written on one day a monthTwelve small grids. Mark the same date in each and draw a tiny alarm beside the first.
A window with a clear sill and nothing in front of itDoors and windows on the plan must not be blocked. Show the toy box moved to one side.
Crawling low under a layer of smokeSmoke collects along the ceiling first. A grey band across the top, a crawler in clear air below.
Matches and a lighter on a high shelfNever touch matches or lighters. If you find them, tell an adult. High shelf, small hand well below.
One bedroom with its two ways out arrowedA door and a window. A green arrow goes through each, and the bed stays out of both paths.
Pot handles turned to the back of the stoveLook down on four burners. Every handle points away from the front edge.
Stop, drop and roll in three framesIf clothes catch fire: stop, drop to the ground, cover your face with your hands and roll.
Firefighters and gear 14
A breathing mask and its air tankA clear face shield with straps, a hose to a tall cylinder and a harness of webbing.
A firefighter at the top of a ladder against a wallDraw the ladder first as two leaning lines, then the figure with both feet on one rung.
A firefighter carrying a cat down a ladderOne arm round the cat, one hand on the rail. The cat's tail hangs over the sleeve.
A firefighter drinking water with the helmet offHelmet under one arm, a bottle tipped up and hair flattened in a ring where the band sat.
A firefighter in silhouette against an orange skyFill the figure in flat black: helmet brim, tank on the back, a tool in one hand.
A firefighter kneeling to talk to a childBring the helmet down to the child's eye level. The visor is up so the face shows.
A firefighter waving from the cab windowA square window, an elbow on the sill and an open glove. The helmet touches the frame.
A firefighter's coat with reflective bandsA boxy jacket with a high collar. Pale bands cross the chest, the cuffs and the hem.
A firefighter's helmet seen from the sideA dome, a short front peak and a long back brim. Add a shield shape on the front for a number.
A pair of thick gloves with long cuffsMitten-fat fingers and a cuff that flares. Add a loop at the wrist for a clip.
A radio clipped to a coat strapA small box with a stubby aerial and a curly cord running to a shoulder clip.
A row of coats and helmets on numbered pegsFive pegs, five coats and five helmets on the shelf above. Change only the number on each.
Boots with the trousers pushed down round themTwo tall boots standing in a ring of folded cloth with braces trailing on the floor.
Two firefighters holding one hoseThe front one aims and the back one braces. Both lean forward against the pull.
Engines and tools 14
A brass station bell with a pull ropeA wide-mouthed bell on a wall arm. The rope ends in a knot at hand height.
A coiled hose with its brass nozzleA spiral like a snail shell. The loose end lifts off and finishes in a short cone.
A fire boat spraying jets over a harbourA squat boat with three nozzles. Each jet is a tall arc that crosses the others.
A fire engine seen from aboveA long rectangle. On the roof draw the ladder, the hose beds and a coil like a liquorice wheel.
A fire engine seen from the frontA big square face: two lamps, a wide grille, a bumper and a light bar on the roof.
A fire extinguisher on a wall bracketA cylinder with a round shoulder, a lever handle, a short hose and a label you leave blank.
A fire hydrant on a street cornerA short post with a domed cap and a nozzle on each side. Bolts are dots round the base.
A fire station with its sliding poleSlice the building open: bunks upstairs, a hole in the floor and a pole down to the engine bay.
A helicopter carrying a water bucket over a forestA bucket hangs on a long line under the cabin. Below it treetops are a row of dark points.
A hose nozzle throwing an arc of waterA cone of spray that widens and falls. Break the far end into drops.
A ladder stretched up to a top windowThe ladder narrows in sections as it climbs. Rungs get closer together near the top.
A ladder truck seen side onA long body, a cab at the front, and the ladder folded flat along the roof.
A light bar flashing on a cab roofA long lozenge with two domes. Flashes are short strokes fanning from each one.
Station doors rolled up, an engine's nose poking outThree tall doors. Draw only the front of the engine in the middle one and leave the rest in shadow.
Flames and smoke 14
A birthday candle with a tiny flameA striped stick, a short wick and a flame no bigger than a fingernail.
A bonfire seen from across a fieldA small bright triangle on the horizon, a long glow on the grass and tiny figures as dark ticks.
A border of flames along the bottom of a posterA wavy line of peaks. Overlap a second row behind it in a lighter colour.
A campfire in a ring of stonesLay the logs like a tent, set flames between them and close the ring with rounded stones.
A candle flame and its soft haloA leaf-shaped flame with a dark wick at its foot. The glow is a pale circle you shade outward.
A fireplace behind a mesh screenA screen in front of a fire catches sparks. Draw the fire first, then cross-hatch the mesh over it.
A flame reflected in a puddleDraw the flame, then again upside down below it, wobbled by two ripples.
A lantern with a flame behind glassA small flame inside a tall glass chimney. The glass gets two highlights and a wire handle.
A row of flames, each a different shapeTall and thin, short and wide, split in two, leaning in a draught. Six studies on one line.
A thick column of smoke leaning in the windA dark trunk that widens and bends one way. Shade the underside and leave the top edge soft.
Curls of smoke rising from a chimneyEach puff is a loose spiral, bigger and paler than the one below.
Embers glowing under grey ashDark lumps with bright cracks. Use orange only in the cracks and keep everything else dull.
One flame built from three teardropsA tall teardrop, a smaller one inside it and a smallest inside that. Red, orange, yellow.
Sparks drifting up into a night skyDots and short dashes that wander upward and thin out. The biggest sit lowest.
Posters and words 12
A badge shape with your class name insideA four-armed badge with rounded ends and a circle in the middle for the class or the room number.
A door hanger that reads Door closed at nightA tall card with a hole for the handle. A moon goes above the words and a door below.
A four-panel comic of the home fire drillPanel one: the alarm sounds. Two: stay low. Three: out of the door. Four: the meeting place.
A fridge chart with the escape plan and a tick for each practiceThe map on the left and a column of boxes on the right, one for every drill you have done.
A thank-you card for the fire stationA helmet on the front and your own words inside. Keep the fold on the left.
Know two ways out, lettered round a floor planWords along the top and bottom edges, the plan in the middle with its arrows in green.
The numbers 911 as tall as the sheetThree huge numerals. Inside the 9 draw a phone and inside each 1 a house.
Our meeting place, with a picture you draw of your ownLetter the three words at the top and draw the real spot your family has chosen.
Stay low, lettered under a ceiling of smokeFill the top half with grey cloud and write the two words small, right at the bottom.
Stay outside, on a sign at the meeting placeA signpost by the tree. The house is behind it and every arrow points to the sign.
Stop, drop and roll with each word doing its actionStop stands straight, Drop sits on the baseline and Roll tumbles letter by letter.
Test it monthly in letters shaped like alarm ringsDraw sound rings spreading from a small alarm and curve one word along each ring.
How it works
A fire prevention poster has one job: show a safety step so clearly nobody needs the caption. These fire prevention drawing ideas begin with 21 such steps, each matched to official US fire safety advice, then crews, engines and flames.
Read the full guide
Pick one message and show the action
Choose one step and draw someone doing it: a finger on the test button, a crawler under a band of smoke, a family at the mailbox. Arrows and a floor plan do more than a paragraph, so keep the words few.
Firefighter drawing ideas and flame studies
Gear is easier than faces: a helmet is a dome with a long back brim, and a coat is a box with pale bands. For fire drawing ideas, build one flame from three teardrops, the smallest innermost, and colour from yellow at the heart out to red.
Check the picture against its message before you colour: two ways out means two arrows from every room.
Draw smoke with the side of the pencil and smudge it upward. A hard outline turns it into cloud.
Questions and answers
What should a fire prevention poster show?
One safety step, drawn as an action: testing a smoke alarm, a home escape map with two ways out of every room, a meeting place in front of the house, staying low under smoke, or stop, drop and roll in three frames.
When is Fire Prevention Week?
It is the week, Sunday to Saturday, in which 9 October falls. It is kept in memory of the Great Chicago Fire, and a United States President first proclaimed it in 1925.
What are the steps of stop, drop and roll?
If your clothes catch fire, stop where you are, drop to the ground, cover your face with your hands and roll over and over until the fire is out. Draw it as three frames with the same figure in each.
How do you draw a home fire escape plan?
Draw a map of your home with every door and window. Arrow two ways out of each room, check that nothing blocks them, and mark a meeting place outside, in front of the home. Then practise it with everyone.