For Immediate Release

Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019

Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-428-3299
Email: [email protected]

Whitman Fire Department Receives Grants to Support Fire Education Programs

WHITMAN — Chief Timothy J. Grenno is pleased to announce that the Whitman Fire Department has been awarded two grants that will help support the department’s ongoing Student Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) programs.

The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services awarded the Whitman Fire Department grants of $3,754 for its S.A.F.E. Program and an additional $2,400 for its Senior S.A.F.E. Program.

The S.A.F.E. Program is a state initiative designed to provide resources to local fire departments to conduct fire and life safety education programs for children in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The program aims to enable students to recognize fire hazards and teach key safety behaviors that should be used anytime a child comes into contact with a fire. Since the S.A.F.E. program’s inception in 1995, the average annual number of child deaths caused by a fire has fallen by 74 percent in Massachusetts.

Senior S.A.F.E. is a similar program that was created to support fire safety education specifically for older adults, who are most at risk of dying in a fire in Massachusetts. The program builds on the success of the original S.A.F.E. program and helps forge a connection between fire departments and a variety of senior support agencies working in their communities.

The grant funds will be used to educate students in the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District on the importance of fire safety and personal safety. The Senior S.A.F.E. funds will go toward assisting the town’s older population in home fire safety and purchasing and installing smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in their homes.

“These programs are essential in helping to educate some of our residents who are most at-risk for being injured or killed in a fire,” Chief Grenno said. “The S.A.F.E. programs allow our firefighters to meet directly with our citizens to teach them some valuable and life-saving safety tips. We are thankful to the Department of Fire Services for their support.”

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