Firefighters share tips, stories with students

There was no shortage of activity last week at Las Animas Elementary School as Fire Prevention Week (FPW) was in full swing.

Students in grades kindergarten through fourth learned the importance of fire safety and prevention courtesy of the Las Animas Volunteer Fire Department and Bent County Ambulance Service throughout the morning hours last Wednesday.

As part of their awareness training, students were advised of the potential dangers when dealing with fire and instructed what to do in cases of fire emergency in coordination with FPW’s 2012 theme “Two Ways Out,” which focuses on the importance of fire escape planning and practice.

“Teaching fire safety to youth is the first step in preventing fire,” said event coordinator and fireman Jason Nichols who has been instructing youth through FPW training for six years. “It’s our number one resource when it comes to preventing a catastrophe.”

While fire prevention and safety were the primary focus of Wednesday’s activities, students were also given the opportunty to recieve hands on training in handling a fire hose and were given a walk through of one of Bent County’s ambulances. “The ambulance crew joined FPW training about three years ago,” said Nichols. “The idea is to make kids feel comfortable with all aspects of fire safety. We’re all on the same team.”

  Celebrated the week of October 9 each year, 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 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on October 9, 1871.

  While the Great Chicago Fire was the best-known blaze to start during this fiery two-day stretch, it wasn’t the biggest. That distinction goes to the Peshtigo Fire, the most devastating forest fire in American history. The fire, which also occurred on October 8, 1871, and roared through Northeast Wisconsin, burned down 16 towns, killing 1,152 people, and scorching 1.2 million acres before it ended. Historical accounts of the fire say that the blaze began when several railroad workers clearing land for tracks unintentionally started a brush fire.

  As a result of the Chicago and Peshtigo fires, and on the 40th anniversary of the fires, the Fire Marshals Association of North America (today known as the International Fire Marshals Association), decided that the anniversary of the fires should henceforth be observed not with festivities, but in a way that would keep the public informed about the importance of fire prevention.  The commemoration grew incrementally official over the years.

  In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first National Fire Prevention Day proclamation, and since 1922, Fire Prevention Week has been observed on the Sunday through Saturday period in which October 9 falls. According to the National Archives and Records Administration’s Library Information Center, Fire Prevention Week is the longest running public health and safety observance on record. The President of the United States has signed a proclamation proclaiming a national observance during that week every year since 1925.