WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 8: FIRE PREVENTION WEEK
Profile America — Monday, October 8th. This is National Fire Prevention Week — a time to look around the house with the idea of keeping the risk of fire to a minimum. It's also a good time to replace the batteries in your smoke detectors. Two of the worst fires in U.S. history broke out on this date in 1871. One was the famous fire in Chicago. The second fire that day was much worse, but has faded into history. A dry summer and high winds turned a forest blaze into a firestorm that jumped rivers, destroying the town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, and 11 other communities, killing as many as 2,400 people. Across the U.S., there are just over 30,000 fire departments, and every 23 seconds one of them responds to a fire. Profile America is in its 16th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2012, p. 496, 497, 498
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2012, t. 355
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
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