Welcome to Fire Prevention Week, Oct 4-10 2009
Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago
Fire, the tragic 1871 conflagration that killed more than 250 people,
left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned
more than 2,000 acres. The fire began on October 8, but continued into
and did most of its damage on October 9, 1871.
According to popular legend, the fire broke out after a cow - belonging
to Mrs. Catherine O'Leary - kicked over a lamp, setting first the barn,
then the whole city on fire. Chances are you've heard some version of
this story yourself; people have been blaming the Great Chicago Fire on
the cow and Mrs. O'Leary, for more than 130 years. But recent research
by Chicago historian Robert Cromie has helped to debunk this version of
events.
While the Great Chicago Fire was the best-known blaze to start during
this fiery two-day stretch, it wasn't the biggest. That distinction
goes to the Peshtigo Fire, the most devastating forest fire in American
history. The fire, which also occurred on October 8th, 1871, and roared
through Northeast Wisconsin, burning down 16 towns, killing 1,152
people, and scorching 1.2 million acres before it ended.
Those who survived the Chicago and Peshtigo fires never forgot what
they'd been through; both blazes produced countless tales of bravery
and heroism. But the fires also changed the way that firefighters and
public officials thought about fire safety. On the 40th anniversary of
the Great Chicago Fire, the Fire Marshals Association of North America
(today known as the International Fire Marshals Association),
decided that the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire should
henceforth be observed not with festivities, but in a way that would
keep the public informed about the importance of fire prevention. The
commemoration grew incrementally official over the years.
In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first National Fire
Prevention Day proclamation, and since 1922, Fire Prevention Week has
been observed on the Sunday through Saturday period in which October 9
falls. According to the National Archives and Records Administration's
Library Information Center, Fire Prevention Week is the longest running
public health and safety observance on record. The President of the
United States has signed a proclamation proclaiming a national
observance during that week every year since 1925.
Reproduced from NFPA's Web site, © NFPA (2009)
Please join us for this years Fire Prevention week open house at Glen Moore Fire Company, Wednesday Oct 7, 2009 From 6:30 to 8:30Pm
Photos by Fred Clark
|
