For more than 140 years, Mrs. O’Leary’s cow has been blamed for the Great Chicago Fire. The poor animal has been accused of kicking over a lamp that set the barn and then all of Chicago on fire on Oct. 8, 1871. The resulting conflagration killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 people homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures, and burned more than 2,000 acres.

That fire and an even more devastating fire northeast Wisconsin, the great Peshtigo fire, which also started on Oct. 8, burning down 16 towns, killing 1,152 people, and scorching 1.2 million acres, changed the way that firefighters and public officials thought about fire safety. On the 40th anniversary, then Fire Marshals Association of North America decided that it should be observed with festivities as a way to keep the public informed about the importance of fire prevention.

One hundred forty-three years later, we observe October as Fire Prevention Month and the week of Oct. 9 is Fire Prevention Week. Fire Safety companies and Fire Departments all over the country spread the word to make sure you're safe.


These kinds of festivities are meant to keep people aware of what they can do to survive a fire. One of the main tools is smoke detectors. They can give people the warning needed to escape a fire, but in many cases of fire deaths, they aren’t operational.

Nearly two-thirds of home structure fire deaths occur in homes where there is no smoke alarm or where smoke alarms are present but fail to operate because the batteries have been removed. Having working smoke alarms cuts the risk of dying in reported home fires in half and having automatic fire sprinkler systems in the home cuts the risk of dying in a home fire by about 80 percent.
Fire officials recommend that smoke alarms should be installed in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of a home, including the basement. They should be tested every month and replaced every 10 years.

Mrs. O’Leary’s cow has aken a lot of lumps for the Great Chicago Fire, but she also should get credit her for today’s fire prevention effort. Considering what happened on Oct. 8, 1871, the 143rd anniversary sounds like an excellent time to make sure you smoke detectors are operating. Push the test button to see if they work. Change the batteries, if necessary, and put up more throughout your home.

Smoke detectors do save lives. Make sure yours is one of them.