This is Fire Prevention Week in America and I can’t think of fire without remembering a traumatic neighborhood event from my childhood, thinking of my late uncle and reminiscing about a classic tv show.
More on those in just a second.
As I was getting started writing about fire, I looked at a few sites online. I was kind of surprised to learn that National Fire Prevention Week is timed each year to occur on the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of October 9, 1871. In all the years I remember Fire Prevention activities in schools when I was growing up, I never heard that connection made.
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.
I never knew that!
I was thinking about how “The Brady Bunch” built an episode around National Fire Prevention Week. I don’t remember what year that was, but in the episode, the youngest Bradys were checking out fire hazards around the home and practicing their family fire escape plan.
It made an impact.
Another note about fire. My late Uncle was a firefighter for years. He made a career out of protecting people and saving their property. I could listen to him talk about his work for hours on end. It was fascinating to me and I was very proud of what he did.
Anyway, the notion of a big fire always takes me back to my childhood and the Great Hidden Valley Good Friday Fire. I don’t think it really has that official title anywhere but in my mind it sure does.
My family was asleep and it was somewhere in the wee hours of Saturday morning after Good Friday when we were ALL awakened by a loud and pronounced BOOM! And when I say everyone, I MEAN everyone. In fact, up and down the street, neighbors came out of their homes and everyone was asking ‘Did you hear that? What was that?’
Within seconds, they had the answer. A house two streets over was ingulfed in flames. The fire lit the night sky. We all realized THAT was the boom. The family in question was able to get out of the house but just barely.
There was no storm in the area that night – just a light drizzle. But the family reported that a lightning strike caused the boom. My dad, always fascinated by meteorology, had theorized a freak super bolt could have been the source of the blast. The anecdotal evidence seemed to confirm that theory.
In the days and weeks after the fire, there was quite a bit of neighborhood chatter about the fire as well as that super bolt. Neighbors chattered about how the pavement on that street buckled from the force of something. One theory was that the lightning strike travelled through the house, through the pipes and out the front into the street.
You know how neighborhood grapevines work.
One thing that is not up for debate…there was a lot of lost sleep among the neighborhood kids during the weeks right after the blast. Occasionally, I will talk about this topic with my best friend – who lived in the next subdivision over – when he and I talk about growing up. He, too, had a hard time sleeping after this traumatic event. We’ll often compare notes. In fact, we had this conversation recently as I came across the date for National Fire Prevention Week for 2011.
Our family has been very busy recently, but as I remember that house fire and I think of safety for my own family, I’m going to make sure we make time to do some simple things:
- Replace the battery in the smoke detectors.
- Review our escape plan (fortunately, we have a chain window ladder conveniently stored on the upper level of the home).
- Remind everyone about our family meeting place.
It’s not likely that we’ll ever need those tools. But, for safety’s sake, we’ll review the plan. Just like the Bradys did.
JG
(Source: nfpa.org)
Originally posted 10/11/2011
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