Smokey Bear's 80. Here's His Life Story.

A Look Back At Smokey Bear’s 80 Years

Smokey Bear made his first appearance on a wildfire prevention poster in 1944.

Eighty years later, Smokey stands as one of the most recognizable fictional characters in the U.S.

“He's an icon. He has a mystique,” Brook Smith, an area forester with the Tennessee Division of Forestrytold us in a recent interview.

“Everybody wants to give him a high five. Everybody wants to say hello to Smokey.”

Smokey makes public appearances across the country at schools, fire stations and other events to spread his message. We recently caught up with him at a park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, along with Smith and several other experts who talked to us about Smokey’s life story.

Generations of people grew up hearing Smokey’s message.

“From a young age, as a kid, I remember thinking about ‘Only you can prevent wildfires,’” Smith said.

But that wasn’t always Smokey’s catchphrase.

His original spiel was: "Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires."

A key change came in 1947: "Remember... Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires."

And finally, In 2001, the current version was released: "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires."

The last redo was to highlight outbreaks of wildfires in areas other than forests and to reinforce the fact that Smokey’s message isn’t geared toward preventive fires or prescribed burns.

“It puts the onus on each and every one of us to take a little bit of leadership and to think about safety for ourselves, our resources and our communities,” Smith said.

Smokey’s campaign is the longest-running public service ad program in U.S. history.

“His message is just as important to us today as it was 80 years ago,” said James Heaton with the USDA Forest Service.

It all started with an artist named Albert Staehle, widely considered to be one of the best animal illustrators in history. The Forest Service commissioned Staehle to make the first Smokey poster.

Kind of. In 1950, crews battling a wildfire in New Mexico heard there was a bear cub alone near the fire line.

The blaze nearly killed about 30 firefighters trapped in its path. The cub narrowly escaped, too. He was found in a charred tree, his paws and hind legs badly burned.

The cub was rescued and flown to Santa Fe for treatment. The story became national news and the cub was sent to reside at the National Zoo in Washington as a real-life embodiment of Smokey.

Lauded as a hero, kids and adults alike flocked to the zoo to see him and bombarded the bear with fan mail.

“Smokey’s story is about all of us,” Smith said.

The bear died in 1976, at the equivalent age of 70 in human years. The area where he was found is now Smokey Bear Historical Park.

Smokey Bear vs. Smokey the Bear: Which One Is It?

There is no “the” in Smokey Bear.

The confusion came about thanks to a song recorded by 1950s country star Eddy Arnold.

The song’s writers, Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, inserted “the” in some lines in order to keep the rhythm going.

You can thank us later for the earworm.

Visit smokeybear.com for more wildfire prevention tips.

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Weather.com reporter Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.