Tewksbury Fire Receives Grants for Student, Senior Fire Safety Education

By BROOKLYN LOWERY (Patch Staff)

TEWKSBURY, MA - The Tewksbury Fire Department is one of more than 200 fire departments across the state to receive grant funding to work with classroom teachers and older adults to deliver fire and life safety lessons.

Tewksbury fire has been awarded $4,837 in Student Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) funding and $2,917 in Senior Safe funding.

According to a statement, S.A.F.E. allows trained firefighter-educators to work with teachers to deliver age-appropriate fire and life safety lessons that also meet the requirements of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Health Curriculum Frameworks. For Senior S.A.F.E., fire departments partner with local senior service agencies.

“This is the 21st year of the S.A.F.E. Program in Massachusetts and we are truly reaching our goal of raising a fire safe generation of children,” said Gov. Charlie Baker in a statement. “The average number of children who die in fires each year in Massachusetts has dropped by over 70 percent.”

When it comes to Senior Safe, the focus of the program is to educate seniors on fire prevention, general home safety and how to survive a fire, according to a statement.