The Susanville City Fire Department will be celebrating National Fire Prevention Week, October 4th through the 10th, with a smoke-detector awareness campaign and a fun open-house held this Saturday at the Fire Hall on Main Street. From 10:00a.m. until 2:00p.m. there will be station tours, fire extinguisher training, fire engine rides and practice escape drills in the fire safety trailer.
Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, the tragic 1871 conflagration that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire began on October 8th, but continued into and did most of its damage on October 9th, 1871.
This year the theme of National Fire Prevention Week is “Hear the Beep Where You Sleep,” a campaign working towards making sure that every bedroom in your house has a working smoke alarm.
According to statistics released by the National Fire Protection Association half of all U.S. home fire deaths occur at night between the hours of 11:00p.m. and 7:00a.m. when most people are sleeping. Having a working smoke alarm in the home cuts the risk of dying in a fire by half!
Because fires can happen when people are sleeping a working smoke alarm in bedrooms is a critical element of home fire safety.
