Michigan is celebrating 74 years of an iconic bear, who taught us all “only you can prevent wildfires.”
Smokey Bear turned 74 years old Thursday!
To celebrate the Huron-Manistee National Forests and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources celebrated with a public safety day at the Carl T. Johnson Hunting and Fishing Center in Cadillac.
It included showing how to properly build and extinguish a campfire, and of course, singing happy birthday.
Debra-Ann Brabazon, with Fire Prevention Education, says the party wore two hats—celebration and education.
“We’ve actually asked all of her other co-operators to come out and celebrate with cake, and also bringing out information about how they participate in helping us and cooperate with us during wildfire,” she says. “We got party hats, we’ve got favors, we got prizes for the flame game, and we also want people to come out and see what it is we do to help create a sense of safety in our own community.”
Smokey’s been teaching wildfire and campfire safety since the mid-1940s, starting with forest fire prevention and now focusing on wildfire and wildland safety.
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