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Date: 3/2/2022
WESTERN MASS. – In a continued effort for fire safety education, the Baker-Polito Administration has awarded nearly $2 million in fire education grants to fund fire safety for youth and seniors across the commonwealth.
Amherst, Hadley, Easthampton and Southampton were just four of the 227 selected municipal fire departments to received some of these funds in support their fire education programs for children and adults across the state. These four towns are receiving funding for both Student Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) and Senior SAFE grants.
Amherst, Hadley, Leverett, Sunderland, Easthampton and Southampton are all towns in Hampshire and Franklin counties receiving some version of S.A.F.E. and Senior SAFE grants. Each town is receiving $3,675 to $6,275 for child fire education and $2,555 to $3,2555 in senior fire safety funding.
According to data collected by the state, the average number of children dying in fires annually has dropped by 78 percent since the S.A.F.E. program began. This decline is almost 30 percent greater than the decline in fire deaths overall.
“The Department of Fire Services’ S.A.F.E. grant program continues to make effective fire safety education available to hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts kids,” said Gov. Charlie Baker in a press release for the grant announcement. “Thanks in part to these grants, Massachusetts has raised a generation of fire-safe families and we are glad to continue those efforts with today’s awards.”
With those numbers indicating a major success in educating on fire safety, the Department of Fire Services launched the Senior SAFE program to provide firefighters with funding to deliver fire safety education to older adults, who face a disproportionate risk of dying in a fire.
“For eight years, the Senior SAFE grant program has helped provide older adults with home visits, smoke and carbon monoxide alarm installations, and fire safety presentations led by firefighters and service providers,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito in a press release. “These grants help keep seniors safe at home.”
A priority across the board for these departments with this funding is to continue efforts in fire safety education for children and seniors. Easthampton Fire Chief Christopher Norris says his department is excited to have the continued support from state legislatures.
“We’ve had a program in place the last two years, and we have educators that work in conjunction with the school staff to teach school children fire safety lessons in regards to stop, drop, cover, and roll, having a home escape plan, the dangers of smoking and the dangers of matches and candles and things of that nature,” Norris said.
Norris added that through data and analysis of their own that over the last couple of years individuals over 65 continue to be a vulnerable population and that when looking at fire fatalities across Massachusetts that usually 30-40 percent of fatalities involve individuals over 65.
“We want to continue our outreach and educational programs focused on this vulnerable population,” Norris added.
The Easthampton Fire Department has recently partnered with the Red Cross to do smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector installation programs as part of the preventative effort according to Norris. They are also looking to partner with the Easthampton Council on Aging to also look at the implementation of a slip and falls hazard mitigation program as well. Norris says the grant will help their outreach initiatives in fire safety education.
Hadley Deputy Fire Chief Even Briant had similar comments on the benefits of this grant toward fire safety education for children and seniors. Briant says Student S.A.F.E. has been ongoing since the 90’s in town and Senior SAFE joined in the late 2000s. He also added this grant will help the department purchase supplies for students like fire helmets and gear they can see and try on, coloring books, and other things to bring to a fire safety lesson for children.
For Senior SAFE, Briant said they can use the grant money toward the lock box program at the senior center where they can have a lock box set up for an elder to help have a backup in gaining entry to their house. He also says that they can purchase smoke and carbon monoxide detectors with this grant funding for people who cannot afford them.
“The biggest thing is when people ask us to come out and change their batteries in home visits, we can make sure they’re up to date because that’s what’s really saving lives,” Briant said.
Briant added the state has been really reliable in the fire safety program as deaths for children due to fire has dropped “tremendously.” With the benefits that have come from proper fire education, it does not appear to be losing access to children and seniors any time soon.
“I would recommend everyone’s doing their checks on their smoke detectors and making sure they’re up to date, changing out their batteries, and also making sure they have a carbon monoxide detector as well in the house and make sure that’s up to date,” Briant said.
Southampton Fire Chief John Workman says he has seen accidental house fires reduced by 50 percent when the public education program for fire safety was introduced. Workman says fire safety education starts with kindergarteners who are introduced to a firefighter in their gear as a “safety friend.”
“We encourage a slogan of, ‘Don’t hide, go outside,” Workman said. “Kids are a high-risk group in an emergency and good public education helps keep our kids prepared and safe.”
Workman added that as kids have grown, so has their program. He says that some of the programs offered for older students focus on kids understanding their role in keeping their families safe through reminding their parents to check smoke and carbon monoxide detectors or creating a safe family emergency escape plan in the event of a fire.
“With seniors, respect and assistance to find resources are some of our best tools we have,” Workman said. “The ultimate goal is to help get safety information out to everyone. We want folks to better know how to react and take lifesaving action in an emergency. Here in Southampton, we are lucky to work with a really good team which includes all great and caring town departments.”
The S.A.F.E. and Senior Safe initiatives continue to be ongoing initiatives in these towns and this grant funding will help them continue throughout the year.