For Immediate Release

Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Georgetown Fire Department Receives Grants for Fire Safety Education

GEORGETOWN —  Chief Fred A. Mitchell Jr. is pleased to announce that the Georgetown Fire Department received two grants to support its Student Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) programs.

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

These two programs help fund the department’s annual open house activities and fire education materials for students, along with making initiatives like lock boxes and free smoke/carbon monoxide detectors possible for seniors.

“We are extremely grateful to the Department of Fire Services for supporting our fire safety programs for students and seniors,” Chief Mitchell said. “Our goal is to ensure that our community, starting with children and continuing well into residents’ adult lives, are aware of how to protect themselves and their belongings in the event of a fire or emergency.”

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 72 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.

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