They get better at managing it when you let them learn fire prevention - they actually put out the fires instead of running around like headless chickens :)
All depends on the difficulty level you want to play with, I guess. I'm thinking that fire prevention is rather important, and should therefore be unlocked fairly early on, but if you prefer some level of danger for a bit longer, the second Cpt Hero thing works, too :) I think I'll go with the fire prevention + extinguish 3 fires + build firestation one. It'd require electricity to be unlocked as well, obviously.