Smokey talks fire prevention with students
(Courtesy photo) Smokey Bear poses with winner of the fire prevention poster contest winners at Priest River Elementary last week. Smokey was there to visit with students and share his tips on wildfire prevention.
(Courtesy photo) SmokeyBear and Woodsy poster contest winners at Idaho Hill Elementary get their photo taken with Smokey Bear last week as he visited the school to talk about wildfire prevention.
Only you can prevent wildfires, Smokey Bear told students at Idaho Hill and Priest River elementary schools last week when he visited the schools to share his five rules of wildfire prevention.
Smokey told the students the five rules are:
- Only you can prevent wildfires
- Always be careful with fire
- Never play with matches or lighters
- Always watch your campfire
- Make sure your campfire is completely out before leaving it
The annual visit reminds the children of safe practices and each student is provided Smokey materials. Winners of the Smokey/Woodsy poster contest were announced and congratulated by all.
According to his website, Smokey has been working hard since 1944 to inspire Americans to prevent wildfires.
The inspiration for Smokey comes from a 1950 fire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico. While battling the fire, crews received a report of a lone bear cut wandering near the fire line, according to smokeybear.com. Crews hoped the mother bear would return for him. Soon, however, about 30 of the firefighters were caught directly in the path of a firestorm and survived by lying face down on a rockslide for over an hour as the fire burned past them.
The little cub didn’t fare so well. He had taken refuge in a tree that was completely charred by the fire. He escaped with his life, but his paws and hind legs were badly burned.
The crew got the cub, who would later be named Smokey, down from the tree and a crew member agreed to take him home. A New Mexico Department of Game and Fish ranger heard about the cub when he returned to the fire camp. He drove to the rancher’s home to help get the cub on a plane to Santa Fe, where his burns were treated and bandaged.
News about the bear, spread and soon letters flooded the agency — all wanted to know how he was doing.
The state game warden wrote of the U.S. Forest Service chief, offering to present the cub that agency as long as he would be dedicated to a conservation and wildfire prevention publicity program.
“The cub was soon on his way to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., becoming the living symbol of Smokey Bear,” the website notes.