BRIDGEWATER – Acting Chief Michael MacDermott is pleased to announce that the Bridgewater Fire Department has been awarded $5,281 for the Fiscal Year 2021 Student Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) Program and $2,680 for the Senior SAFE Program by the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.
The Bridgewater Fire Department will use the grant money to continue the department’s fire education and prevention program in the schools as well as within the senior community.
“The education provided through SAFE programs is valuable and can save lives,” Acting Chief MacDermott said. “We are grateful to have received these grants which will help us continue to educate our community’s students and senior residents on fire safety and prevention practices.”
Funding for the programs allows for specially trained fire educators to work with classroom teachers and seniors to deliver age-appropriate lessons on fire and life safety. The key fire and life safety behaviors in the school-based program meet both the requirements of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Health Curriculum Frameworks and the state Department of Fire Services Curriculum Planning Guidebook.
The average number of children who die in fires each year in Massachusetts has dropped 78% since the program started compared to a similar time frame before it started, according to the state’s Department of Fire Services, which administers the two programs.
The S.A.F.E. and Senior SAFE Programs provide $1.9 million through the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to local fire departments. The programs are administered by the state’s Department of Fire Services.
To learn more about the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services’ SAFE program, click here.
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