S.A.F.E.

S.A.F.E.
Student Awareness for Fire Education

Despite a growing demand on time within the school day by ever-changing state educational requirements and special interest groups, the Mansfield Fire Department’s S.A.F.E. program has enjoyed a very successful year of growth and achievement. Firefighters, trained as educators, have presented lessons to approximately 3,500 school children in approximately 150 classrooms, from preschool through grade eight. Each classroom/ homeroom has received an individual, age-appropriate lesson in topics that cover Ice Safety; Swim Safety; Using 911; Your Friend the Firefighter; Get Out Alive; Home Fire Safety; Stop, Drop and Roll; and the Science of Fire. Tailor made programs have been delivered to children with special needs in environments most suited for their learning needs. In addition, the program’s anti-tobacco message has broadened to include grades four, five, six and eight. Grade eight, in particular, broke new ground in presenting an anti-tobacco message that focused on smokeless tobacco products and its long-term effects.

The number of firefighters presenting the message has increased with the addition of two S.A.F.E. educators. Both firefighters successfully completed the twelve-hour program presented by the State Fire Academy and one firefighter is currently enrolled in the forty-hour public fire and life safety education program.

The S.A.F.E. presence at community events has also increased. S.A.F.E. has presented its message at health fairs, safety days, family day and the downtown walk, literally reaching nearly 20,000 people. Initiatives such as a smoke detector give away have expanded to include not only the elderly but the disadvantaged as well. Adults have heard our message through presentations on fire safety made in industrial work settings and during teacher conferences. A local scout has achieved the highest rank of Eagle Scout through his work with the fire department on ice safety. Mansfield has also become host community for a State S.A.F.E. trailer, which has already seen its successful maiden voyage. Meanwhile, the staff has been hard at work developing protocols and Standard Operating Guidelines needed to effectively guide its usage. The Juvenile Fire-Setter program has also been busy, servicing nearly a dozen crisis children.

This year has also seen a third grade boy rescue his family from a fire within his home despite the malfunction of all the smoke detectors within the house. The youth attributed his actions to his exposure to fire safety during S.A.F.E. presentations. The boy was later acknowledged for his heroism during an award ceremony covered by local papers as well as channels five and ten. This was the seventh time in the last four years a Mansfield student has used his S.A.F.E. education to save a life within the community.

This year the Mansfield Fire Department’s S.A.F.E. program has faced many new demands and challenges. We have been extremely successful in meeting these with unprecedented cooperative efforts between the fire department, the school department, social services, DARE, the anti- tobacco coalition, and town merchant association. As always, we look forward to the challenges the upcoming year will bring.

The Mansfield Fire Department would like to sincerely thank all of you who have donated to our S.A.F.E. gift account. This program is funded by a state grant; however the grant we receive is rather small, as many other towns apply for the same grant. The donations we have received have gone to purchase items that compliment the program, such as fire related pencils, stickers and activity books, as well as educational fire safety videos, musical tapes that help the children memorize phrases such as “Stop, Drop and Roll”, papers that help design fire escape plans for your home, material on the use of 911 and other such items.

If you would like to make a donation to the S.A.F.E. program, please make checks payable to The Town of Mansfield and please make a reference on the memo line to “S.A.F.E. Donation”. Please send checks to the 10 Plymouth Street station. THANK YOU!

If you have any questions regarding this program,
please contact Brian Strange at (508) 261-7385.

Mansfield Fire Department

S.A.F.E. Student Awareness for Fire Education

S.A.F.E.
Student Awareness for Fire Education