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Fire Prevention
For code compliance, alarm systems, inspections or other fire prevention matters, please contact Assistant Fire Chief Kevin McAuliffe at (708) 465-1300 ex 4003
A Message From Assistant Fire Chief Kevin McAuliffe
October 1, 2024
For the past 29 years, the Crestwood Fire Department has had the opportunity to participate in the National Fire Protection Association's annual Fire Prevention Week. In the month of October, throughout the United States, Fire Prevention week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire.
The Great Chicago Fire was 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.
According to popular legend the fire broke out after a cow belonging to Mrs. Catherine O’Leary kicked over a lamp, setting first the barn, then the whole city on fire. Chances are you’ve heard some version of this story yourself, as people have been blaming the Great Chicago Fire on the cow and Mrs. O’Leary for more than 130 years. But recent research by Chicago Historian Robert Cromie has helped to debunk this version of events.
Like any good story, the case of the cow has some truth to it. The great fire almost certainly started near the barn where Mrs. O’Leary kept her five milking cows. But there is no proof, and Mrs O’Leary herself swore that she’d been in bed early that night and that the cows were also tucked in for the evening.
Over the years, journalists and historians have offered plenty of theories. Some blamed the blaze on a couple of neighborhood boys who were near the barn sneaking cigarettes, others believed that a neighbor of the O’Learys may have started the fire, and some people have speculated that a fiery meteorite may have fallen to the earth on October 8, starting several fires that day in Michigan and Wisconsin as well as in Chicago.
Those who survived the Chicago fire never forgot what they’d been through, as the blaze produced countless tales of bravery and heroism. But the fires also changed the way firefighters and public officials thought about fire safety. On the 40th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, the Fire Marshal Association of North America (today known as the International Fire Marshals Association) decided that the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire should henceforth be observed not as festivities, but in a way that would keep the public informed about the importance of fire prevention.
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.
With that said, every year the Crestwood Fire Department is a participant in National Fire Protections annual Fire Prevention Week. Crestwood Fire Department will be conducting our annual Fire Prevention Week activities, in which the members of this department educate the schools within the district on fire safety. This year’s theme is SMOKE ALARMS: MAKE THEM WORK FOR YOU.
In ending, I would like to thank Mayor Klein and the Village Board, along with the citizens of the Village of Crestwood for all your support throughout the years.
Let’s all stay safe and we will get through this together.
Kevin McAuliffe
Assistant Fire Chief
Crestwood Fire Department
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