Jimmy Carter

“ I urge officials in private industry and in government who are responsible for using or regulating hazardous materials to seek and implement measures to significantly reduce the possibility of life loss in the event of manufacturing, transportation, or storage accidents and to assist the fire services in preparing for such disasters should they occur. ”

“ I urge all agencies of Federal, state and local government involved in the planning and implementation of programs directed to finding solutions to such national concerns as energy conservation, environmental protection, and economic wellbeing to fully consider the effects of their programs on the fire safety of the environment in which Americans live and work. ”

“ Because fire deaths most often occur in homes, I call upon American families and other property owners to install smoke detectors, to practice exit drills, and to be especially vigilant in guarding against fires caused by cooking and fires caused by smoking materials, which cause the greatest number of fires and greatest proportion of losses in homes. ”

“ Every year in this decade 7,500 U.S. citizens have died, 310,000 have been injured and more than $4 billion worth of personal property has been destroyed. America's fire incidents, casualties, and dollar loss per capita are among the very highest in the industrialized world. ”

“ I support and encourage the cooperative efforts of private enterprise and government in developing low cost residential sprinkler systems and I urge commercial and government property owners to install sprinklers in both new and older buildings, especially those buildings in which large numbers of people gather. ”