NFD Receives S.A.F.E. Grant

Governor Deval Patrick’s office in conjunction with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security announced that area fire departments, including Norton, have received Student Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) Program grants for the 2012 fiscal year. received $5,265 in state funding support.

Since 1995, The Department of Fire Services has awarded cities and towns across the Commonwealth with grants to fund the educational program targeting students in grades K-12 with fire safety and prevention lessons.

For 16 years, the S.A.F.E. program has been bringing local firefighters into the classroom teaching students applicable protocol to use in the event of an emergency and warn against the fire hazards posed by tobacco use. Since the program’s inception, there has been a 66 percent decrease in the rate of children’s fatalities due to fires. Over 250 children have been named “Young Heroes” and credited with putting what they learned into practice in order to save themselves or others.

“This is a great example of a government program where funding spent today ends up saving money in the end,” said State Senator Jim Timilty. “As chair of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, fire safety and prevention remains a top priority in any budget requests.”

All eight towns in Timilty’s district in Bristol and Norfolk counties who applied for
funding received awards in varying amounts.