One hundred years ago, with thousands dying in fires annually and the costs of fires skyrocketing, Fire Prevention Week was born. The goal: To educate all citizens about the dangers of fire and what efforts that they could take to prevent them. In the 100 years since, the number of annual fire deaths has decreased tremendously, but the overarching fire problem still is a serious threat in this country.
In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Oct. 9 to be Fire Prevention Day. Two years later, seeing a growing fire problem in the United States, President Warren G. Harding announced that Fire Prevention Week would be during the week of Oct. 9, in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which burned from Oct. 8–10. The historic blaze claimed approximately 300 lives and destroyed 17,000 structures. Another historic fire also started on Oct. 8, just a few hundred miles north in Peshtigo, WI, and claimed some 800 lives.
Edward F. Croker, who was the former chief of the New York Fire Department, wrote, “Most people look upon fires as something that is inevitable, almost natural, and consider their prevalence in this country is something that must be born [sic], along with their other damage [and] is caused by the acts of nature. This is all wrong. The average fire is no more to be excepted [sic] as inevitable or natural than is the collapse of a poorly built building.”
He wrote, “Our Losing Fight Against Fire” in the wake of the March 25, 1911, fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City, where 146 people died in a garment factory. He talked about the growing threat to communities and people from fires in the massive factories and why fire prevention needed to be a top priority in communities across the country.
Further, he said that the fire service wasn’t prepared to deal with the growing threat of fire, recommending the fire service get ahead of the fires by talking with business owners and neighbors about the various threats and then working to reduce or eliminate them.
“There are, also, many faults even in our present system of organization of fire departments. These must be remedied before the battle against fire will become a winning one in this country,” he wrote.
As the decades passed, the number of fire deaths declined. In the 1980s, as many as 6,000 perished annually; now, the number is closer to 3,000, but over the past few years, the number has started to grow.
“Is Fire Prevention Week successful,” many ask? The answer is yes, but that’s only valid when communities put resources and funding into community outreach. A lot of education still must be carried out; the same goes for research to find best practices for reducing fire injuries and death.
Many who have written for Firehouse Magazine on the topics of fire prevention and, more recently, community risk reduction, including Daniel Byrne, Timothy Szymanski and the late Joe Manuse, have championed the notion that fire prevention—and now aptly called community outreach—shouldn’t be the focus just seven days annually but a year-round effort and outreach and that everyone in fire departments, from chiefs to rookies, has to act their part to ensure that fire deaths decline in the United States.
Firehouse Expo 2023
After a terrific conference in Columbus, OH, last month, the team already is putting the plans into place for Firehouse Expo 2023. We will return to Columbus, Sept. 25–29, 2023, with exciting updates in place. New presenters, formats and topics will combine with the tried-and-true programming to enhance your experience. If you’re interested in presenting, please visit FirehouseExpo.com and click on the link for the Call for Papers.
