STOW — Chief Joseph Landry is pleased to announce that the Stow Fire Department has been awarded $4,692 to fund its Student Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) Program and $2,480 for the Senior SAFE Program by the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.
The Stow Fire Department plans to use the money to fund both the department’s fire prevention and education program in the schools and the education program within the senior community.
“S.A.F.E. programs are an incredibly important part of our fire prevention efforts, which help protect residents of all ages,” Chief Landry said. “We are grateful for receiving these grants and look forward to utilizing them for education and prevention purposes within both the student and senior communities.”
This funding gives fire departments the opportunity to work with students in classrooms and senior residents to give fire and life safety lessons tailored to common issues for each age group. The lessons taught in the school-based program are in line with the standards of both the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Health Curriculum Frameworks and the state Department of Fire Services Curriculum Planning Guidebook.
Twenty-six years after the introduction of the S.A.F.E. program within schools, the rate of annual child fire deaths have decreased by 78%, according to the state’s Department of Fire Services, which created and runs the programs.
The S.A.F.E. and Senior S.A.F.E. Programs give $1.9 million to local fire departments to fund the programs through the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
To learn more about the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services’ S.A.F.E. program, click here.