In "To Kill a Mockingbird," why does Atticus make the children leave the house and stand in front of the Radley house?

In the middle of the night, Miss Maudie's house catches fire. Three fire trucks are trying to put out the flames, but the cold hinders the firefighters, and one of the hoses bursts. Atticus wakes the two children and makes them wait by the Radley house so they are well out of the way.