Emergency Dial 9-1-1
On October 9, 1871, one popular legend claims that Mrs. Catherine O'Leary was milking her cow when the animal kicked over a lamp, set the O'Leary's barn on fire and started the fiery conflagration. The city of Chicago was fast to rebuild and soon began to remember the event with festivities. The Fire Marshals Association of North America believed the 40th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire should be observed in a way that would keep the public aware of the importance of fire prevention. On Oct. 9, 1911, FMANA sponsored the first National Prevention Day. In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first national Fire Prevention Day proclamation. By 1925, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the first National Fire Prevention Week, which was Oct. 4-10, 1925. He noted that in the previous year approximately 15,000 lives had been lost to fire in the United States. National Fire Prevention Week is always the week in which Oct. 9 falls. Each year, a specific theme is chosen and is commemorated throughout the United States. During the 2010 Fire Prevention Week, the Department made 16 school visits and brought fire safety awareness to just over 1,200 students throughout the City of Dover. Children, K thru Grade 4, were educated on various issues. The members put on a demonstration with a firefighter, dressed as they would be on a fire scene, to show the children how important it is to not be afraid of a firefighter. The children were able to see what the firefighter would look like and how they would sound in the event of an actual emergency. This program teaches children to keep low to the floor and not to panic if a fire would break out in a residence or a structure. The children were taught how important it is to have a meeting place outside their residence for their family if a fire would break out. The children were taught about safety with lighters and matches, and were also taught how to stop-drop-roll. Upon completion of the discussions and demonstrations, the children were taken for a tour of one of the fire apparatus.
