LANCASTER — John Accardi will be the presenter during the celebration of Smokey Bear's 75th birthday at Weeks State Park on Thursday, Aug. 8. And there will be Smokey's birthday cake for all to enjoy.

Smokey Bear's story begins with World War II. On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, and the following spring, they fired shells that exploded on an oil field very close to the Los Padres National Forest. Fear grew among Americans that more attacks would ignite wildfires and bring a disastrous loss of life and destruction of property. It was then that the protection of forests became a matter of national importance.

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