What if the White House called a last-minute press conference? Imagine President George W. Bush standing at the podium before the media and stating:

"Today, I have gravely serious news to report to you and the American people. I have just been informed that the fire in Louisiana on Thursday morning, in which six people were killed, brings the total to 81 multiple-fatality fire deaths that have occurred in 18 fires since Jan. 1, 2007.

"Tonight, I am issuing an order mandating every fire and emergency department in the United States to review and reinforce their citizen education programs for their community. I am also asking each man, woman and child in America tonight to search for this deadly killer lurking in your home and review your exit plans."

OK, the chances of this happening are slim, but what if our government decided to wage a war on the killer that lurks in every community and in every home? In 2005, 3,675 civilians were killed in fires, and 82% of those deaths were in house fires.

Maybe fire doesn't rank with the importance of preparing for the war on terror, yet more people in the United States die annually from fire each year than dirty bombs or even natural disasters. I'm not discounting domestic preparedness, but we're overlooking the forest for the trees. Fire is a daily threat that comes with cooking, lit candles, cigarettes, space heaters and kids with matches.

As part of the National Fallen Fire Fighters Foundation's focus, the new Everybody Goes Home whistle-stop campaign was created as part of an effort to prevent 100-plus firefighters from dying each year. Hand-in-hand with this effort, however, should be a strong message that fire kills and injures everyone, from the youngest to the oldest in our communities, including firefighters!

Last year, every time there was a fatal fire in Chicago, a department spokesperson emphasized there were "no working smoke detectors" in the home. Smoke detectors with no batteries? One chief wrote to us and said firefighters super-glue a long-life battery in the smoke detectors the department gives away. When the long-life battery is dead, it's time to change the smoke detector anyway.

Since my Notebook entry last week, I've heard from several individuals who are working on public education efforts, including:

• Ed Comeau, publisher of Campus FireWatch, founder and past director for Center for Campus Fire Safety, and former chief fire investigator for the NFPA;
• Meri-K Appy, president of the Home Safety Council, which distributes public education material at no charge to fire departments;
• Ken Farmer, the new director of the Fire Prevention and Leadership section at the U.S. Fire Administration, which includes Public Fire Education's Quick Response program;
• Ben May, part of the team at Epcot that created "Where's the Fire?", the largest interactive public-education program for people of all ages around the world.

Maybe it's time to form a National Association of Public Educators to work together for a unified voice and to share ideas to attack America's fire problem. Everyone working together could make a difference.

Fire calls are down, EMS calls are up, yet more people are dying in fewer fires. Folks, we still have a problem with fire in America.