To recognize National Fire Prevention Week, the Ames Fire Department has educational activities throughout October. Deputy Chief Russ Scott reminds residents that technology breakthroughs have made smoke detectors safer and user-friendly with dual reads (photo-electric and ionization sensitive) and a remote silencer/tester.
The Fire Department invites residents to stop by any of the three fire stations for a tour and to ask questions about fire safety. Unless they are on a call or training, they are always there, so anytime during the day is fine.
How Did Fire Prevention Week Begin?
The history of National Fire Prevention week has its roots in the
Great Chicago Fire, which occurred on October 9, 1871. This tragic
fire killed some 300 people, left 100,000 homeless, and destroyed
more than 17,000 structures. The origin of the fire has generated
speculation since its occurrence, with fact and fiction becoming
blurred over the years. One popular legend has it that Mrs.
Catherine O'Leary was milking her cow when the animal kicked over a
lamp, setting O'Leary's barn on fire and starting the spectacular
blaze. However the massive fire began, it swiftly took its toll,
burning more than 2,000 acres in 27 hours. The City of Chicago
quickly rebuilt, however, and within a couple of years residents
began celebrating their successful restoration by memorializing the
anniversary of the fire with festivities.
In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first National Fire
Prevention Day proclamation. Every year since 1927, the President of
the United States has signed a proclamation pronouncing the Sunday
through Saturday period in which October 9 falls a national
observance.
When President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the first National Fire
Prevention Week, October 4-10, 1925, he noted that in the previous
year some 15,000 lives were lost to fire in the United States.
Calling the loss "startling," President Coolidge's proclamation
stated, "This waste results from conditions which justify a sense of
shame and horror; for the greater part of it could and ought to be
prevented... It is highly desirable that every effort be made to
reform the conditions which have made possible so vast a destruction
of the national wealth."