Proclamation 4150—Fire Prevention Week, 1972

One American home catches fire every 56 seconds. The toll in human sorrow, in shattered dreams and plans, in pain and fear overshadow last year's three billion dollars in property loss.

Approximately 12,000 persons lost their lives last year because of fires. Destructive fire knows no prejudices. Its victims come from every neighborhood, from every income bracket, from every race and ethnic group. Yet the burden does not fall evenly because its principal victims are the poor, the very young and the very old.

We have long needed a national focus on fire prevention; and now that focus is being provided by the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control which I appointed a year ago to study and recommend ways to reduce fire disasters. I endorse the preliminary findings of this Commission which emphasize the need for improved public education, for early detection and alarm, and for better protective equipment for firefighters.

The Commission on Fire Prevention and Control has made a good beginning, but it cannot do our work for us. Only people can prevent fires. We must become constantly alert to the threat of fires to ourselves, our children, and our homes. Fire is almost always the result of human carelessness. Each one of us must become aware—not for a single time, but for all the year—of what he or she can do to prevent fires.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the week beginning October 8, 1972, as Fire Prevention Week. I urge every citizen to make this the first week in an entire year of fire awareness and of the ways in which he can eliminate fire hazards and prevent fires.

Our firefighters are selfless public servants. Yet they are too often subjected to physical attack and abuse while on their missions. I call upon all citizens to participate in the fire prevention activities of the various governments and of the National Fire Protection Association. In addition, I urge every citizen to visit his local fire company and to find out what he can do to help our firemen in their difficult but essential work.

I also encourage all Federal agencies to participate in Fire Prevention Week, in cooperation with the Federal Fire Council, by conducting effective fire prevention programs, including fire exit drills and other means of training employees.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-seventh.

RICHARD NIXON