The Champaign and Urbana Fire Departments are celebrating National Fire Prevention Week, which commemorates the Great Chicago Fire, a disaster that killed people and destroyed structures in October 1871brJT.

The Champaign Fire Department and Fire Factor 20, a campus safety organization, will host a fire safety demonstration for students to top off the week — which is recognized from Oct. 4 to Oct. 10brJT. The demonstration will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Illinois Fire Service InstitutebrJT.(http://ci.champaign.il.us/2015/10/06/fire-factor-committee-gets-ready-for-fire-factor-20/)

Randy Smith, deputy fire marshalbrJT at the Champaign Fire Department, said the department will simulate a fire by filling a room with smoke and teach students how to escape.

Students will also have the chance to participate in “Surviving Your Next Night Out,” a demonstration that will teach students how to survive fires on campus and in nightclubs.

Ryan Wild, coordinator of Special Programs Fire SafetybrJT, said the University’s Facilities and Services department does not organize any specific fire prevention events but does provide information about the week on its website.

Fire Prevention Week, which is sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association, takes on a new theme each year. This year’s theme is “Hear the Beep Where You Sleep: Every Bedroom Needs a Working Smoke Alarm!” The association’s goal is to raise awareness and remind people to check if smoke detectors at home are working, according to the National Fire Protection Association’s websitebr.(http://www.nfpa.org/safety-information/fire-prevention-week)

“The topic of the Fire Prevention Week changes every year, but this year they (recognized) the huge relationship between house fires and the importance of smoke alarms in the bedrooms,” Smith said. “Half of house fires occur between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., which is also the sleeping period for most of the people.”

The Urbana Fire Department will perform an auto extrication demonstration at Family Night at Lincoln Square on Thursday.

This illustrates how the firefighters will save you when you are stuck in a car during accidents,” said Jeremy LeeveybrJT, the fire prevention officer from the Urbana Fire Department.

The event will highlight fire safety education for children and feature a visit from Sparky the Fire Dog and Safety Pup.

“We have fire safety quizzes to test (children’s) knowledge about fire prevention. Also, we teach them how to get out of smoke when they experience a fire accident,” Leevey said. “Moreover, we will assist them to discriminate what are hot items that are easy to burn in fire, so that they have ideas about what is safe to play with.”

In addition to games and an informational session, the Urbana Fire Department will exhibit the dressing of fire fighters and how to utilize personal protective equipment for fire prevention.

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