ROCKINGHAM — Several fire departments and other businesses are working together to hold an event this weekend to teach people how to avoid starting fires.
The event will be held at Freedom Baptist Church in Rockingham on Saturday, Oct. 19, by the Richmond County Chiefs Association. Fire safety events will take place from 5 to 7 p.m., and there will be a trunk-or-treat from 7 to 9 p.m.
Fire Prevention Week has been put on by the public Fire Protection Association for more than one hundred years. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge made it a public holiday.
A page at nfpa.org says, “Fire Prevention Week is held every year during the week of October 9th to remember the Great Chicago Fire, which started on October 8, 1871, and caused a lot of damage.” “This terrible fire killed more than 250 people, made 100,000 people homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 buildings, and burned more than 2,000 acres of land.”
On October 15, Fire Prevention Week came to an end.
The East Rockingham, Cordova, Hoffman, Derby, Northside, and Hamlet fire departments, the Rockingham and Ellerbe rescue squads, the N.C. State Highway Patrol, the N.C. Forest Service, and the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office are all taking part in this weekend’s event.
Lee’s Collision Repair, Tedder Trash Solutions, Arlo’s Wrecker Service, and Cooke Boys Septic Services are some of the other companies that are taking part.
This month, the Rockingham Fire Department held an event to teach people how to avoid starting fires.