WILDFIRE PREVENTION HISTORY

In the 1871, the Peshtigo Fire burned over 1.5 million acres, covering 2400 square miles and killing over 1500 people.

Peshtigo Fire Illustration from the November 25, 1871 edition of Harper's Weekly magazine

On October 8th of that same year, The Great Chicago Fire occurred, allegedly started by Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow, who—as legend tells us—kicked over a lantern in a barn that started the historic conflagration.

However, in recent times, this tale has been debunked, and appears to have been a fictitious story created to use Mrs. O’Leary as a scapegoat for starting the fire.

When all was said and done, 250 lives were lost and the Great Chicago Fire had burned over 17,000 structures. Due to extreme drought and high winds, the efforts of firefighters ultimately proved unsuccessful, and they gave up. The fire eventually burned itself out.

Between 1871 and 1881 two fires in Michigan burned over 3.5 million acres and killed 369 people. This trend of large and destructive fires continued on into the next decade. Between 1894 and 1919 three separate fires in Minnesota burned a total of 1,740,000 acres, killing 998 people.

In 1910, what has been recorded as the largest wildfire in U.S. history, also known as “The Big Blow Up of 1910,” occurred in August of that year and scorched a total of 3 million acres across Washington, Idaho and Montana, taking the lives of 87 people, many of whom were firefighters.

Amid growing concerns over the devastating nature of these fires, Congress signed the Forest Protection Act in 1905, which set the stage for early wildfire prevention efforts in the U.S.

An Early wildfire prevention poster from 1902

In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Oct 8th—the same day the Great Chicago Fire started—as “National Fire Prevention Day,” and the first week of October proclaimed “National Fire Prevention Week” which ever since has been celebrated annually as a continuing campaign to bring awareness to fire prevention efforts in the U.S.

With the onset of World War II, wildfire prevention efforts were ramped up following the first attack on the U.S. Mainland on February 23rd, 1942 when a Japanese submarine shelled the Ellwood Oil Field near Santa Barbara, California. Throughout 1944 and 1945, the Axis Forces launched several thousand balloons carrying incendiary bombs intended to start forest fires. However, these balloon bombings—the most part—proved ineffective. The only casualties were a woman and five children in Bly, Oregon, who, after discovering one of these balloon bombs and attempting to move it, were killed when the bomb detonated.

Throughout the years 1943-1947, the Wartime Advertising Council and the U.S. Forest Service joined forces to make a concerted effort to inform the public about the potential loss of natural resources due to unwanted forest fires and the dire effect this would have on the war effect.

Out of this alliance many successful wildfire prevention campaigns were launched during the ensuing years. Among them, one of the most successful advertising campaigns in U.S. History: Smokey Bear.

Early Smokey Bear Poster, 1947

Learn more about Smokey Bear: http://www.smokeybear.com/

Learn about Smokey Bear Fire Prevention Posters: http://www.state.sc.us/forest/posters.htm