DIXON, CA (MPG) - In 1883, a roaring blaze of fire ripped through Dixon, utterly destroying the entire region. 

In a few hours, churches, businesses and homes burned to the ground from one ember that started in the kitchen of the Centennial Hotel, now the Moose Lodge. The Dixon disaster came after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 when President Calvin Coolidge declared Fire Safety Week in 1925.

A year shy of a century, the annual Fire Prevention Week is the longest-running health observance in the U.S., with the Dixon Fire Prevention Week joining in. Mayor Steve Bird officially proclaimed Oct. 6 through Oct. 12 as a week of fire safety with the rest of the nation.

“Resolving fire is a serious public safety concern both locally and nationally, noting roughly three out of five fire deaths happen in homes with either no smoke alarms or with no working smoke alarms,” Bird wrote in a decree.

Every year, new statistics and themes come out on Fire Safety Week. This year, the theme “Smoke alarms: Make them work for you” was promoted by the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA).

In a video, Casey Grant, former National Fire Prevention Association executive director, details the Great Chicago Fire, noting the blaze-inspired life-saving redesign.

“We build cities with fire protection in mind that people don’t even realize it,” Grant said. “The width of streets are put in knowing the convenience of vehicle, but they are natural fire breaks, and the exterior of buildings are much more fire resistant in terms of design.”

Dixon did the same.

“After the building material of choice became brick or tin, as part of a new city ordinance,” according to a city history report. 

As for smoke alarms, the mayor said, they “sense smoke well before you can, alerting you to danger in the event of a fire in which you may have as little as 2 minutes to escape safely.”

Bird reminds residents they should test smoke alarms at least once a month and plan and practice a home fire escape plan so citizens “are more prepared and will therefore be more likely to survive a fire.”

Additionally, the mayor said Dixon’s residents are responsive to public education measures and can take personal steps, pointing to the last day of Fire Safety Week, Saturday, where Sparky, the mascot, will make an appearance from 9 a.m. to noon at the Dixon Fire Department, 205 Ford Way.

The annual event gathers young and old to meet and discuss fire safety with Dixon’s first responders, who, if called to do so, would sacrifice their safety for the residents they meet.

Bird urges “all the people of Dixon to make sure their homes have working smoke alarms” and to come out on Saturday to support “the many public safety activities and efforts of Dixon’s fire and emergency services.”