A proclamation by President Calvin Coolidge in 1922 made Fire Prevention Week a national observance to educate the public on how to stay safe and reduce deaths caused by fire.
Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 4-10, and this year's campaign is called “Serve Up Fire Safety in the Kitchen!” Cooking is the No. 1 cause of home fires and injuries, with unattended cooking the top cause of fires in the kitchen, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) website reported.
During this week firefighters and educators teach children and adults how they can stay safe in the event of a fire.
The first week of October was chosen to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire. The fire began on Sunday evening, Oct. 8, 1871, and continued until the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 10, 1871.
The fire killed more than 250 people, destroyed more than 17,400 structures, left 100,000 people homeless and burned more than 2,000 acres of land.
Chicago was in the middle of a drought. Buildings and sidewalks were constructed of wood. Sawdust was put down on city streets. In the weeks leading up to the fire, Chicago firefighters had to battle many other fires. The day before the Great fire, they exhausted themselves fighting another major fire.
Forty years after the fire, the Fire Marshals Association of North America sponsored the first National Fire Prevention Day, Wikipedia reported. In 1919, the NFPA and the Dominion Fire Prevention Association approved resolutions urging Canada and the United States to support a common Fire Prevention Day. Coolidge expanded it to Fire Prevention Week in 1922.
The Great Chicago Fire caused public officials and firefighters to look at fire safety differently. Today, street widths help create natural fire breaks and buildings are constructed of fire-resistant materials to help stop the spread of fires.
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