HYANNIS – Governor Charlie Baker recently announced the award of $1.8 million in grants to 234 municipal fire departments for fire education programs protecting children throughout the state, including numerous departments on the Cape & Islands.
Student Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) and Senior SAFE grants will go out to 227 communities, with one community receiving just the S.A.F.E. and six others receiving the senior SAFE grant only.
“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 Baker.
“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,” he said.
Local fire departments receiving grants included the Barnstable, Bourne, Brewster, Centerville-Osterville-Marstons Mills, Chatham, Eastham, Falmouth, Harwich, Hyannis, Mashpee, Nantucket, Orleans, Sandwich, and Wellfleet fire departments, with the Sandwich and Falmouth fire departments receiving the largest contributions.
According to state officials the average number of children killed by fires has dropped 78% annually since the program’s enactment, a drop 30% greater than the decline in fire deaths across all age groups.
The program’s success led to the launch of the Senior SAFE program to protect older adults who are at greater risk of dying in a fire than the general population.
“The fire departments delivering these safety messages are reducing the risk of fire, injury, and tragedy in cities and towns across the Commonwealth,” said State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey.
“No child has died in a Massachusetts fire since March of 2019, and fire deaths overall continue to trend downward. Programs like S.A.F.E. and Senior SAFE are among the reasons Massachusetts is one of the most fire-safe states in the nation,” he said.
State funding comes through the Executive Office of Public Safety & Security.
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By, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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