TIM SZYMANSKI, PIO LAS VEGAS FIRE & RESCUE

President Harry S. Truman recognized there was a fire problem in the United States, so in 1947 he pulled together over 2,000 of the best minds in the country to identify ways to prevent unwanted fire.

After a three-day conference in Washington, D.C., The President’s Conference on Fire Prevention was produced. And yet today, most fire service leaders do not know this special document exists or is it taught in fire science courses at community colleges across the country. The reason, it was forgotten.

But for the past two years, one member of Las Vegas Fire & Rescue discovered the report, in parts, and combined the report into a format which is now once again being distributed in publication, on the United States Fire Administration website, and soon to be on CD-ROM through the U.S. Fire Administration publication system.

Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Fire Protection Engineer Azarang "Ozzie" Mirkhan was working on a class project at the National Fire Academy when he discovered the "lost documents." Mirkhan is a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program of the National Fire Academy where selected fire service leaders work on special fire service projects at the academy.

When he discovered the documents, he found that the report was not combined, and what was even more amazing is that current fire service leaders were not aware that such a conference even took place.

President Truman was concerned about the fire problem in the United States, so on May 6-8, 1947, he gathered nearly 2,000 of the best minds to meet at the Departmental Auditorium on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Marine Corps Band lead the opening ceremony after which several committees were formed and broke into intense meetings. After the meetings, the 1947 report was complete. What is amazing is it resembles the same problems the fire service is still trying to tackle almost 50 years later.

The report identified the most important issue was the "3-Es." The "3-Es" are Engineering, Enforcement and Education. Talk to any fire safety official today, and they will tell you that the 3-Es are still the most important issues of fire prevention.

The original participants believed that the report and its aftermath were sure to solve the fire protection problem in our country. For the most part, this very significant effort of more than 50 years ago has drawn little long-term action despite the fact that much of it remains true today.

Only one original copy of the President’s report is known to exist and it is kept in the Learning Resource Center collection at the campus of the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Mirkhan redid the document into copy which is now available through the United States Fire Administration either through their website or through their publications department.

In a letter to Mirkhan from R. David Pulison, Administrator for the United States Fire Administration, he stated, "Because of your outstanding effort in all of the necessary steps, this significant chronicle exists now in its entirety. Its use as a reference continues to increase. We are extremely pleased that the complete report can now be shared with the world."

Pulison further stated, "For more than 2 years, your unswerving dedication, research, compiling, retyping and proofing-has provided the fire service community with a vital fire prevention reference tool. We are grateful for your commitment and accomplishment."

The report can be found on the USFA’s website at www.usfa.fema.gov/dhtml/inside-usfa/47report.cfm.