Local officials announce $11,400 in fire safety education grants

Special to The Advocate

  State Senator Jason Lewis and State Representatives Paul Donato, Steve Ultrino and Kate Lipper-Garabedian were pleased to announce that the Malden Fire Department was selected to receive $11,400 from the Department of Fire Services (DFS) – part of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) – for fire safety education grants for school-age children and older adults. The Malden Fire Department is receiving an $8,500 Student Awareness of Fire Education (SAFE) Grant to promote fire and life safety programs in local schools and a $2,900 Senior SAFE Grant to support fire safety outreach to older residents. These programs have proven effective and are an important way to keep communities safer. Since SAFE was first launched in 1995 to teach students about fire safety, the number of children who die in fires has dropped dramatically.

“This award will help the Malden Fire Department with community outreach for school age children and families,” said Malden Fire Chief Stephen Froio. “These programs help to educate on fire safe practices such as the importance of smoke detectors, home evacuation routes and the dangers of matches and other incendiary devices. This will also help older members of the community in identifying trip and fall hazards as well as cooking hazards.”

“Fire safety education and prevention resources are important to keeping our communities safe, especially for young people and older residents,” said Senator Lewis. “I’m pleased that the Malden Fire Department is receiving this state support to keep up their great work educating the public about fire safety and prevention.”

“The Malden Fire Department receiving a grant from the EOPSS’s Department of Fire Services is a significant accomplishment. This funding highlights the importance of enhancing fire safety education, especially among school-aged children and older adults,” said Representative Donato. “We extend our gratitude to EOPSS for their support as we strive to foster a community of safety in Malden and the Commonwealth.”

“SAFE grants have been providing fire safety education to hundreds of thousands of children for almost 30 years,” said Representative Ultrino. “The success is what led to the launch of the Senior SAFE program for our elderly. This year, the Malden Fire Department received more funding than ever before and I am grateful they continue to be the backbone of our community public safety programs. These grants will allow our trained firefighter-educators to keep protecting children and elderly in our community.”

“I am glad that the Malden Fire Department has been awarded this state grant to promote fire and safety education in schools and fire safety outreach to older adults in the community,” said Representative Lipper-Garabedian. “With children and older adults being most vulnerable to harms from fires, this state funding will be crucial to ensuring the safety of these members of our community.”