Fire Prevention Day

♦      October 9: Fire Prevention Day. This day not only helps save lives, but also commemorates one of America’s most devastating fires, the Great Chicago Fire, which sparked major efforts in fire prevention. On October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire began at about 9:00pm. 250 people died, and about 100,000 people were left homeless due to the humongous blaze that burned 2,000 acres. Legend has it that the two-day fire actually started after a cow kicked over a lantern, setting a barn and the entire city on fire.

- examiner.com

♦      Wisconsin: The place where the Peshtigo Fire took place on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire. The Peshtigo Fire was a forest fire that took place on October 8, 1871 in and around Peshtigo, Wisconsin. It was a firestorm that caused the most deaths by fire in United States history killing an estimated 1,500 people and charring 1.5 million acres of land. Somehow, this fire remains relatively unknown compared to the less-deadly Chicago fire.

- palisadespete.wordpress.com

♦      Cooking fires: This type of fire is the most common cause of fire deaths. The kitchen is the most hazardous room in the house when it comes to risk of fire. This is usually a result of leaving food cooking on a stove unattended, leaving flammable materials too close to an open stove, or other human errors that are preventable. Kitchen fires are generally not caused by electrical failures of kitchen appliances, although this provides a risk of fire as well.

- firesafetytoolbox.org

♦      2007–2011: During this time, candles caused 3% of home fires, 4% of home fire deaths, 7% of home fire injuries, and 6% of direct property damage from home fires. Roughly one-third of these fires started in the bedroom; however, the candle industry found that only 13% of candle users burn candles in the bedroom most often. So make sure there is nothing flammable around candles, since more than half of all candle fires are caused by what’s surrounding them.

- nfpa.org

♦      100,000: The number of times lightning strikes the earth a day. About 10% to 20% of these lightning strikes can cause a fire.

- dosomething.org

                                  

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