It’s National Fire Prevention Week! Oct. 3-9, 2021

Fire prevention begins at home and it’s important to take steps both inside and out of your home to protect you and your family. Our partners from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) have brought us this year’s message: Learn the sounds of fire safety! To keep your family safe, it’s important to recognized the different alarms such as fire and carbon monoxide in your home. There are special types of alarms that can be felt and seen for those who are hard of hearing.

Since 1922, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has sponsored the public observance of Fire Prevention Week. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Fire Prevention Week a national observance, making it the longest-running public health observance in our country. During Fire Prevention Week, children, adults, and teachers learn how to stay safe in case of a fire. Firefighters provide lifesaving public education in an effort to drastically decrease casualties caused by fires.

Fire Prevention Week is observed each year during the week of October 9th in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871, and caused devastating damage. This horrific conflagration killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures, and burned more than 2,000 acres of land.