Sparky poses with children outside the library. The key message of this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, Oct. 4 through 10, is to install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area, and on every level of the home, including the basement.
Senior Airman Alexander Hernandez, 56th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter, donned the Sparky the Fire Dog costume while Airman Adarius Thurmond, 56th CES firefighter, reads to children at the library. Fire Prevention Week was established after the Great Chicago Fire which began Oct. 8 and burned until Oct. 10 in 1871. The fire destroyed 3.3 square miles of Chicago and left more than 100,000 residents homeless.
Sparky the Fire Dog meets with children Oct. 7 during Children’s Storytime at the 56th Force Support Squadron Library during National Fire Prevention Week. This year’s theme is “Hear the Beep Where You Sleep.
Sparky the Fire Dog greets children outside the library before Children’s Storytime, which happens at 9:30 a.m. Wednesdays. 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 Oct. 9 falls.