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.
The fire
changed the way that firefighters and public officials thought about fire
safety. On the 40th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire 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.
