Fire Prevention Week, 1998

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Part IV

The President

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Proclamation 7131--Fire Prevention Week, 1998

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7131 of October 2, 1998

Fire Prevention Week, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Fire claims more than 4,000 American lives each year, a
tragic loss of life that we can and must prevent.
Nearly 80 percent of these deaths occur in the home,
where smoke and poisonous gases often kill people long
before flames can reach them.

Underestimating fire's deadly speed has cost many
Americans their lives. Smoke alarms are one of the most
effective safety tools available to ensure sufficient
escape time, and research shows that by installing and
maintaining working smoke alarms, we can reduce the
risk of fire-related death by nearly 50 percent.
Another important safety measure is a home fire escape
plan, which enables everyone in the household to exit
quickly during a fire emergency.

As sponsor of Fire Prevention Week for more than 70
years, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
has selected ``Fire Drills--The Great Escape!'' as the
theme for this year's Fire Prevention Week. Together
with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the NFPA
reminds us to take responsibility for our personal
safety and practice our home escape plans. On
Wednesday, October 7, 1998, fire departments across
America will coordinate home fire drills in support of
National Fire Prevention Week. Community fire
departments will signal the start of the ``Great Escape
Fire Drill'' by sounding their stations' fire alarms at
6:00 p.m.

As we focus on fire safety this week, let us also pay
tribute to the courage and commitment of our Nation's
fire and emergency services personnel. These dedicated
men and women devote themselves, day in and day out, to
protecting our lives and property from the ravages of
fire. All America watched in awe this summer as
thousands of firefighters from across the Nation
battled the wildfires that raged through Florida for so
many weeks. Leaving their own homes and families, these
heroes put their lives on the line as street by street,
house by house, they worked to save the homes of their
fellow Americans. It is fitting that on Sunday, October
4, 1998, at the 17th annual National Fallen
Firefighters Memorial Service in Emmitsburg, Maryland,
our Nation will honor once again the valiant men and
women across our country whose commitment to protecting
our families and communities from fire cost them their
lives.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim October 4 through October
10, 1998, as Fire Prevention Week. I encourage people
of the United States to take an active role in fire
prevention not only this week, but also throughout the
year. I also call upon every citizen to pay tribute to
the members of our fire and emergency services who have
lost their lives or been injured in service to their
communities, and to those men and women who carry on
their noble tradition.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
second day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen
hundred and ninety-eight, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and
twenty-third.