National Fire Prevention Week -- October 4-10, 1998
October 4-10 is National Fire Prevention Week. This year, the
week
will commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which accounted
for 250
deaths and destroyed 17,430 buildings. The aim of National Fire
Prevention
Week is to increase public awareness of fire safety and the
prevention of
fire-related injuries, deaths, and property damage by promoting
fire
prevention strategies. These strategies include 1) promoting safe
storage
of matches and flammable liquids, 2) teaching children not to play
with
matches or lighters, 3) discouraging persons from smoking in bed,
4)
recommending that persons establish and practice fire escape plans,
5)
encouraging the installation of a smoke alarm on each habitable
floor of a
home and outside each sleeping area, and 6) teaching persons how to
extinguish fires.
This year, as part of National Fire Prevention Week, a unified
North
American fire drill, The Great Escape, will be held on October 7 at
6 p.m.
This event is being coordinated by the National Fire Protection
Association
(NFPA) and participating fire departments, schools, and communities
across
the United States and Canada. Additional information about
preventing
residential fires and The Great Escape fire drill is available from
NFPA,
telephone (617) 984-7285, or from the World-Wide Web site
http://www.nfpa.org.
Disclaimer
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