Fire Prevention Week begins Sunday and this year's theme is cooking fires and how to prevent them. Over 3,600 people have died in the continental U.S. in the last year, and over 540 of those lethal fires started in the kitchen. Fire department representatives will be going to schools and businesses to teach fire prevention.

Fire Prevention Week is always scheduled the week of October 9^th because that is when the Great Chicago Fire took place on October 9, 1871.

The fire was one of the largest and most destructive in the nation's history, killing over 300 people and destroying over half of the city. The fire did play a key role in the future establishment of building codes, water supply lines, and other fire prevention and abatement measures.

The fire department also reminds people with ATVs and motorbikes who recreationally ride their vehicles in the desert that removing spark arrestors from the vehicle can cause severe fires. This is a problem that has come to the attention of the Pahrump Fire-Rescue Service.