1/4/2019 Fire Prevention Week - Wikipedia

Fire Prevention Week

National Fire Prevention Week is observed in the United States and Canada, during the week (from Sunday to
Saturday) in which October 9 falls.

In the United States, the first Presidential proclamation of Fire Prevention Week was made in 1925 by President Calvin
Coolidge. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) continues to be the international sponsor of the week.

In Canada, Fire Prevention Week is proclaimed annually by the Governor General. The Saturday ending the week is also
proclaimed as Fire Service Recognition Day to express appreciation for the many public services rendered by members of
the Canadian fire service. While in Australia the Fire Prevention Week is usually held between April 28 to May 5.[1]

Contents
History
Noted fires
References
Notes
External links

History
The Fire Prevention Week commemorates the Great Chicago Fire. On the 40th anniversary (1911) of the Great Chicago
Fire, the Fire Marshals Association of North America (FMANA); the oldest membership section of the National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA), sponsored the first National Fire Prevention Day, deciding to observe the anniversary as a
way to keep the public informed about the importance of fire prevention. In May 1919, when the NFPA held its 23rd
annual meeting in Ottawa at the invitation of the Dominion Fire Prevention Association (DFPA), the NFPA and DFPA
both passed resolutions urging governments in the United States and Canada to support the campaign for a common Fire
Prevention Day. This was expanded to Fire Prevention Week in 1922. The non-profit NFPA, which has officially sponsored
Fire Prevention Week since its inception, selects the annual theme for Fire Prevention Week.

In the United States, the first national Fire Prevention Day proclamation was issued by President Woodroow Wilson in
1920.[2] When President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the first National Fire Prevention Week on 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",
Coolidge's proclamation stated: "This waste results from the 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".[3][4]

In Canada, the first national Fire Prevention Day proclamation was issued by the Governor-General in 1919. The earliest
known provincial proclamation of Fire Prevention Day was by the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council of Ontario in 1916. Fire
Prevention Week was first proclaimed by the Governor-General in 1923. Fire Service Recognition Day was first
incorporated into the Governor-General’s proclamation of Fire Prevention Week in 1977.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Prevention_Week 1/3
1/4/2019 Fire Prevention Week - Wikipedia

On October 12, 1957, the NBC children's western television series, Fury, starring Peter Graves and Bobby Diamond, aired
the episode "Fire Prevention Week" to acquaint youngsters with the dangers of forest fires.[5]

On October 6, 2017, President Donald Trump proclaimed Fire Prevention Week.[6][7][8]

Noted fires
1871 Great Chicago Fire
Peshtigo Fire

References
Internal document prepared by staff of HRSDC - Fire Prevention Branch (formerly Office of the Fire Commissioner of
Canada) for staff training and briefing, based on review of the following sources:

NFPA Journal - various editions;

NFPA Community Awareness kit;
Minutes of the Association of Canadian Fire Marshals & Fire Commissioners (ACFM/FC), June 18–21, 1952
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Dominion Fire Prevention Association (DFPA), May 19, 1919
Minutes of the 68th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC), August 22–26, 1976
Archival copies of the Fire Prevention Day/Week Proclamations - Registrar General of Canada

Notes
1. Beveridge, Katina. "Australia's Fire Prevention Week" (http://controlfireprotection.com.au/australia-fire-prevention-wee
k/). Control Fire Protection. Control Fire Protection. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
2. Proclamation 1573: Designating October 9, 1920, as Fire Prevention Day. Wikisource. 1920-11-07. (41 Stat. 1802)
3. "Fire Prevention History" (https://archive.is/19980109132507/http://firesafety.buffnet.net/history.htm).
FireSafety.buffnet.net. Archived from the original (http://firesafety.buffnet.net/history.htm) on 1998-01-09. Retrieved
2007-05-11.
4. Proclamation 1746: Designating the week beginning Sunday, October 4, 1925, as National Fire Prevention Week.
Wikisource. 1925-11-11. (44 Stat. 2583)
5. " "Fire Prevention Week", Fury, October 12, 1957" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0769101/). Internet Movie Data Base.
Retrieved February 5, 2013.
6. Office of the Press Secretary (October 6, 2017). "President Donald J. Trump Proclaims October 8 through October
14, 2017, as Fire Prevention Week" (https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/10/06/president-donald-j-trum
p-proclaims-october-8-through-october-14-2017). whitehouse.gov. Washington, D.C.: White House. Retrieved
October 14, 2017.
7. Boyd, Keith (October 6, 2017). "Fire Prevention Week: 'Every Second Counts, Plan 2 Ways Out!' " (http://www.military
news.com/peninsula-warrior/news/air_force_news/fire-prevention-week-every-second-counts-plan-ways-out/article_4
43ba645-6bf2-5cd8-abb6-b571a7a2c9d9.html). Military.com. United States: Monster Worldwide. Retrieved
October 14, 2017.
8. "Fire Prevention Week, 2017" (https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-10-13/pdf/2017-22417.pdf) (PDF). Federal
Register. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. October 6, 2017. Archived from the
original (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/10/13/2017-22417/fire-prevention-week-2017) on October
13, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.

External links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Prevention_Week 2/3
1/4/2019 Fire Prevention Week - Wikipedia

Fire Prevention Week (http://www.firepreventionweek.org/)

[1] (http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/labour/fire_protection/prevention/history.shtml)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fire_Prevention_Week&oldid=862588335"

This page was last edited on 5 October 2018, at 10:29 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Prevention_Week 3/3