The History of Fire Prevention Week

Each year schools around the country celebrate National Fire Prevention Week. But do you know why it's celebrated during the month of October?

On October 9, 1911, Fire Prevention Day was proclaimed. This day was chosen because it was the fortieth anniversary of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, which killed hundreds of people and destroyed thousands of buildings. In 1992, Fire Prevention Day was extended to an entire week. Fire Prevention Week is celebrated each year during the week that includes the date of October 9.

From our "Fire Dog Heroes" book

Fire Prevention Week and Fire Dog Heroes

This week is National Fire Prevention Week, and I would like to take a moment to recognize the often unsung heroes of fire prevention: the hard-working Fire Dog Heroes.

Aside from keeping up morale at their fire department stations, most of us do not really know what fire dogs actually do. When we imagine a fire dog, we picture a Dalmatian living at a fire department station and riding in the fire engine. While a few fire departments do keep Dalmatians around, they are relatively rare a fire stations today. When fire departments relied on horse-driven steam pumpers instead of fire engines, dalmatians lived and traveled with the horses in order to keep them calm.

Though horses and steam pumpers are no longer used by firemen, fire dogs are still very important. Today's fire dogs are brought in shortly after a fire to sniff for accelerants (typically gasoline or any other flammable chemical) that may have fueled the fire. If a fire dog detects an accelerant, it will signal to its handler to take a sample to test for accelerants By detecting these accelerants, fire dogs are able to help a fire department determine if a fire was unintentional or the result of arson. Instead of Dalmatians, today's fire dogs are most often Labrador mixes, golden retrievers, golden mixes, and German shepherds. These breeds make great fire dogs because they like to work and they are capable of detecting very faint scents.

If you have kids or teach any children that want to learn more about fire dogs, check out Fire Dog Heroes, from our Amazing Working Dogs with American Humane series by Linda Bozzo.

Fire Dog Heroes

by Linda Bozzo

Publication Year: 2010

48 Pages

Interest Level: Grades 3-4

ISBN: 978-0-7660-3202-6

Binding: Library

Price: $23.93

School/Library Discount Price: $17.95