May 04-10 Designated As Arson Awareness Week

LANSING, MI - Friday, May 02, 2008 - Governor Jennifer Granholm has proclaimed May 4-10, 2008 as Arson Awareness Week in Michigan in order to draw attention to this serious and devastating  crime.

The week is being promoted by the Michigan Arson Prevention Committee (MAPC), an organization which represents government, the insurance industry, business, law enforcement and fire services. The high cost of arson damaged or destroyed over $221 million in property in Michigan in 2007.

Arson Awareness Week

Whereas, Arson is a serious crime that affects all of us and only can be stopped when we realize the severe damage it causes to our state and individual communities; and,

Whereas, Arson fires erode the local tax base and cause a severe loss  to our cities, villages and neighborhoods, and can destroy property and the security of employment; and,

Whereas, Arson fires can disrupt our educational systems, destroy irreplaceable historical buildings and artifacts, render natural resources useless for long periods of time, and inflict countless human deaths  and injuries; and,

Whereas, The direct costs of arson in 2007, estimated by the Michigan  Arson Prevention Committee, reached a staggering $200 million in Michigan  alone; and,

Whereas, Indirect costs associated with arson, both financial and emotional, include funerals, medical bills, legal work, lost wages, business interruptions, increased insurance premiums, firefighting and law enforcement costs; and,

Whereas, The Michigan Arson Prevention Committee works to combat the problem of arson through education and public information programs and the tip-reward program that aids in the arrest of approximately 30  arsonists each year; and now therefore be it,

Resolved, That I, Jennifer M. Granholm, Governor of the State of Michigan, do hereby proclaim the week of May 4, 2008, as Arson Awareness Week throughout our state, and I encourage all citizens to recognize the costly consequences of arson.