THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410090037
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
More than a century ago today, a cow kicked over a lantern in a Chicago barn and began a chain of events that led to one of the worst fires in American history.
This week children across the Albemarle and elsewhere will learn that that blaze was easily preventable - as are most others - as the nation kicks off Fire Prevention Week today through Oct. 15.
Locally, fire departments will visit area schools throughout the week to discuss fire prevention and safety tips to some of the youngest members of our society.
``So many times they are left home for maybe only a short time, and this is where a fire starts - when children are left alone and have a curious nature,'' said John M. Long, fire marshall in Perquimans County.
``If we get to them at a young age, hopefully we can get them to not play with matches and to be cautious of fires in general,'' he said.
Among recent statistics Long and other fire educators will relay from the Massachusetts-based National Fire Protection Association:
Every 16 seconds, a fire department somewhere in the United States responds to a fire.
Nationwide, there is a fire-related death every 111 minutes.
Throughout the country there is a civilian fire injury reported to a fire department every 18 minutes.
Smoking materials account for about a fourth of all civilian fire deaths in both the United States and Canada.
Fires in 1992 occurred in 637,500 structures, 405,000 vehicles and 922,00 outside properties.
Another piece of trivia that may spark interest in a young audience: In 1992, the nation's fire departments responded to almost 1.6 million false alarms, nearly one of every nine calls.
Long said during an interview Friday that in this area the number of false alarms generally increases during school holidays.
He and other fire officials hope to cut down on both false and real alarms by teaching preventative and first aid measures.
To illustrate their message, many will visit campuses with fire safety trailers that can simulate the conditions of a real blaze.
``Of every student that I've taken through the fire safety trailer, there was something that he picked up. Some pick up a lot,'' Long said.
The Southeast, Long noted, has the highest fire-related death rate nationwide - 21.1 deaths per 1 million people, compared with 18.1 per 1 million for the entire country.
Two of the best ways to reduce the chance of a house fire, he added, are to keep active smoke alarms and fire extinguishers on hand. Most household fires begin in the kitchen. by CNB