FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017 file photo, a giant Smokey Bear statue greets children at the Fire Department Open House at Fire Station One in Kinston, N.C. The icon of the longest-running public service campaign in the U.S., was born on Aug. 9, 1944, when the U.S. Forest Service and the Ad Council agreed that a fictional bear would be the symbol for a fire prevention campaign. (Janet S. Carter/Daily Free Press via AP)

Smokey Bear, fire prevention icon in US, to turn 75

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CAPITAN, N.M. – Smokey Bear, the icon of the longest-running public service campaign in the U.S., is set to turn 75.

Birthday parties are scheduled to take place this week in honour of the bear that promotes forest fire prevention.

The decision to use the Smokey Bear character happened on Aug. 9, 1944, when the U.S. Forest Service and the Ad Council agreed a fictional bear would be the fire prevention campaign symbol.

A badly burned cub found after a 1950 fire in New Mexico’s Capitan Mountains was named Smokey Bear and was used in promotional campaigns.

The Gila National Forest in Silver, New Mexico, and Wingfield Park in the town of Ruidoso will hold birthday parties for the bear.

Parties also are scheduled in Reading, Pennsylvania, and Entiat, Washington.

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