WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9: WORST U.S. FIRES
Profile America — Saturday, October 9th. This is National Fire Prevention Week — a time to look around your house with the idea of keeping the risk of fire to a minimum. It's also a good time to check the batteries of 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. A second fire on 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. At least a million acres were blackened. There were nearly 79,000 wild fires across the U.S. two years ago, burning more than 5 million acres. Profile America is in its 14th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2010, p. 509
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, t. 376
Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office 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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