Historical and Social Context

"The Commission on Fire Prevention and Control has made a good beginning, but it cannot do our work for us. Only people can prevent fires. We must become constantly alert to the threat of fires to ourselves, our children, and our homes. Fire is almost always the result of human carelessness. Each one of us must become aware-not for a single time, but for all the year-of what he or she can do to prevent fires."¹

President Richard Nixon
September 7, 1972

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman called for, hosted, and participated in the "President's Fire Prevention Conference of 1947." The participants in the conference were some of the brightest minds in America at that time. The purpose of the meeting was to identify ways to prevent fires. However, what evolved out of that meeting was the application of a military concept in dealing with safety. That concept was identified as the "3 E's," engineering, education, and enforcement and it applied well to fire safety.²

The purpose of education is ultimately to change behaviors. Fires have for too long been generically categorized as "accidental." For instance, the cause of a fire is blamed on a misplaced candle or materials placed too close to a furnace. The candle or furnace caused the fire not the person originally behind the action. Responsibility must be correlated between actions and persons with fire.

Nearly all fires can be prevented with the "3 E's. Education is the most cost effective fire suppression activity the fire service can engage in. By preventing fire from ever starting, costs to municipalities and the overlooked costs to citizens devastated by fire are dramatically reduced.

1. The Report of the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, America Burning (Washington, D.C.: National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, 1973).

2. Federal Emergency Management Agency/United States Fire Administration/National Fire Academy, Fire Prevention for First Responder and Small Departments (Emmitsburg: United States Fire Administration, 2000).

3. Brighton Area Fire Department, Lieutenant Mike Kennedy.

Croker Fire Drill Corporation
P.O. Box 368
Islip Terrace, NY 11752-0368
Phone:631.277.7602
Fax:631.277.5802