AccuWeather speaks with Robert Westover of the USDA Forest Service, who recognizes the 80th anniversary of wildfire safety and prevention with the iconic character Smokey Bear.
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00:00About nine out of ten wildfires are caused by humans. What is Smokey Bear's core safety message?
00:07Well, Smokey Bear's core safety message has always been about your individual responsibility
00:13while out in our beautiful wildlands, forests, and grasslands. We all know natural fire is a
00:18good thing, but fire caused by us, what I like to call stupid fire, is what Smokey's talking about.
00:23You know, don't leave your campfire unattended. Make sure it's put out properly with the
00:29pour, stir, pour method where you pour water, you stir it up, and then you pour more water again,
00:33and then you put the back of your hand over it to see if it's still hot. Little things like this,
00:38not dragging your chains to cause sparks that can ignite forest fires. So that's his message.
00:44There's some confusion sometimes about that, but the basic message is your responsibility
00:49as a camper, as a sightseer out in our beautiful national lands.
00:53Well, looking at some of that video, Smokey the Bear has evolved. In how we see, you know,
00:58things a little bit sharper with the imaging, but it's now the 80th year of Smokey Bear,
01:02and how has he evolved, and how has he lasted so many generations?
01:06Well, his message is timeless. It's timeless, and it's applicable all over the world. I mean,
01:12we have beautiful wildlands all over the world, and the timeless message of your responsibility,
01:17what you can do as an individual, it's any wonder he hasn't lasted 80 years. It's a very simple,
01:23straightforward message. Only you can prevent wildfires. So we're really hoping that the next
01:28generation really gets and understands this, because he's only a generation away from being
01:33forgotten about, right? So our job is to keep that alive, and so we've been doing all these
01:37exciting things in this 80th birthday year to get kids excited about it. We're having a Smokey Bear
01:43reading challenge, so check with your local libraries to see what's going on with that.
01:46We're having Smokey visit all sorts of fire prevention events, so see if you can call your
01:51local forest or state forest and get Smokey Bear at your event. Get the kids tied into it,
01:55because this is all about passing it on to the next generation, and that's the focus.
01:59He's looking back, of course, 80 years, but he's also looking forward another 80 years.
02:05All right, we'll leave you with that view of Robert Westover, who is the Public Affairs
02:08Specialist with the USDA Forest Service. Thank you for all your information. I'll
02:13send you my address for a hat.