National Fire Prevention Week Starts Sunday

     October is National Fire Prevention Month and National Fire Prevention Week starts Sunday – which will also be National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Day with flags flying at half-staff until sunset. 

       Many fire departments around the country use Fire Prevention Week or Fire Prevention Month to hold fundraisers.

Among them is the Chadron VFD, which holds its annual Open House tomorrow from 10:00-2:00 at the Fire Hall.

       The centerpiece of the Open House is the free will donation spaghetti feed, but there will also be displays of firefighting and emergency response equipment.

      This year’s Fire Prevention Week theme is “Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety” and is designed to educate people, especially children, about the different sounds smoke and carbon monoxide alarms make. 

For more on this year’s theme, click onto www.firepreventionweek.org.

     Fire Prevention Week is always the week that includes Oct 9th to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1876, which began Oct 8th, while Firefighters Memorial Day is traditionally the first Sunday of October. 

       Fire Prevention Week was first observed in 1922 and President Calvin Coolidge issued a proclamation in 1925, making it the longest-running public health observance in the country.