Schaumburg Fire Department holds Home Escape Plan Challenge for kids

Home is exactly where people have been advised to be for their safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that advice would change immediately in the event of a fire.

The Schaumburg Fire Department is running a Home Escape Plan Challenge for children ages 6-12, in which entries can take the form of a video or essay.

By noon Monday, June 1, participants are asked to email either a two- to four-minute video or a 150- to 300-word essay with six to eight photos, to Public Education Coordinator Lisa Bezella at lbezella@schaumburg.com.

Before sending in their entries, children can view tips on how to create an escape plan for their household on the village's website, villageofschaumburg.com.

Each entry should include an explanation of the steps the family took to come up with its plan, demonstrate how its practice drill went, and a map showing two ways out of every room to a safe meeting place outside.

Videos should use either the .mp4 or .wmv format. Submissions larger than 8MB will not be accepted by email. Such larger videos should be uploaded to Google Drive or other file sharing services, with a link to the video file included in the email.

Essays should be submitted in a Word.doc file, with photos attached in .jpg format of at least 100KB in size each.

All entries must include the participant's name, age, address and phone number in the email, with a limit of one per person.

The fire department's Public Education Team will select the winning submission, with the winner to receive special recognition and a free dinner for his or her family from a local restaurant.

For more information, call (847) 923-6708.