Both the Smokey Bear character and the real life Smokey hail from Washington, D.C. In 1950, an orphaned bear cub was rescued from a wildfire in New Mexico and brought to Washington to live at the ...

The advertising campaign began in 1944 and is considered the longest-running public service announcement campaign in U.S. history A real-life Smokey Bear was found burned and clinging to a tree ...

This year marks the 80th birthday of Smokey Bear. The promotional campaign to fight forest fires was originally launched in 1944. A real-life version of Smokey Bear was found burnt and clinging to ...