Fire Prevention Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize October as National Fire Prevention Month and would like to thank all the firefighters across my district and across the Nation for all that they do to keep our communities safe.

In 2013, departments across the United States responded to nearly 400,000 fires, resulting in $7 billion in property damage and more than 2,700 deaths. That, unfortunately, amounts to an average of eight people every day.

Of those who lost their lives as a result of fire, one in four was caused by a fire that started in a bedroom. This is one of the reasons why one focus of this year's Fire Prevention Month is to raise awareness that every bedroom needs a working smoke detector.

Mr. Speaker, as a volunteer firefighter with nearly three decades of experience, I know that smoke detectors save lives. The statistics prove this, showing that working smoke detectors cut the risk of dying in a fire by half.

Smoke detectors are inexpensive and easy to install. I urge everyone to take action to help prevent future tragedies.

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