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

About

The Mansfield Fire Department’s S.A.F.E. program has again enjoyed a very successful year. Firefighters, trained as educators, have presented lessons to approximately 4,100 school children in approximately 193 classrooms, from preschool through grade 8. Each of these classrooms have received an individual, age appropriate lesson in topics that cover:

  • Crawl Low Under Smoke
  • Get out Alive
  • the Science of Fire
  • Stop, Drop, and Roll
  • Understanding 911
  • Understanding Smoke Detectors and Fire Drills
  • Your Friend the Firefighter

Some of these program were tailor made programs to be delivered to children with special needs in environments most suited for their learning needs. Also note, that with Mansfield’s efforts this program has produced 20 young heroes. This is a statewide recognition for our students who have saved a life with the skills they learned from the S.A.F.E. program.

Improvements

The number of firefighters presenting these messages has increased with the addition of 5 S.A.F.E. educators bringing the total of S.A.F.E. educators to 7.

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, the Downtown Walk, and the TRIAD spaghetti dinner, reaching nearly 22,000 people. Residents have heard our message through presentations on home fire safety, heating safety, and H1N1. Mansfield continues to be the host community for one of the states S.A.F.E. trailers.

The Juvenile Fire Setter program continues to be a valuable asset to this community, to date the program has taught 150 children who have a tendency to play with fire. This program has been very successful and the rate of recidivism is one the lowest in the state.

Donations

The Mansfield Fire Department would like to sincerely thank all of you who 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, erasers, and activity books, as well as fire educational videos, and media presentation equipment.

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 10 Plymouth Street Fire Station.

Questions

If you have any questions regarding this program, please call 508-261-7492.