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Cheshire Elementary students
'wear' winning fire safety tips
By JIM BARILLO
North Adams Transcript
March 26, 1998
CHESHIRE-Thirty-nine people have died in fire-related incidents in
Massachusetts since the Christmas holidays That's about one person
every two days who has lost their life this year in a fire.
That statistic,
and others of its kind, are nothing new for fire officials in the
commonwealth who do battle with life-threatening blazes on a regular
basis. Yesterday, T. Andrew Reardon, of the state Fire Data and
Public Education Unit, presented that statistic to an audience less
familiar with the dangers of fire: Cheshire Elementary School's
student body.
Through fire
education and raising fire prevention consciousness, Reardon and
other fire safety educators are hoping to burn the number of
fire-related deaths down to a bare minimum. As coordinator of the
Safety Awareness and Fire Education program, Reardon was at Cheshire
Elementary alongside Cheshire Volunteer Fire Chief George Sweet for
a fire safety awards ceremony held Wednesday.
"It's through
your efforts we're going to stop that. It's got to be done in the
classroom because we can teach children in the classroom to be fire
safe," said Reardon, thanking teachers and staff who have
participated in fire safety programs.
Fourth-, fifth-
and sixth-grade students participated in a tee-shirt design contest
earlier this year— creating posters in art class revolving around
the themes of fire safety.
Designs were
judged by school staff and Cheshire art teacher Cheryl Sykes, with
the winning design from each grade adorned on tee-shirts, which were
dispensed to every Cheshire Elementary student.
The project is
part of the SAFE program, which currently involves nearly 200
communities statewide, having grown significantly in its three-year
history. Coordinated through the office of state Fire Marshall
Stephen D. Coan, the program gives small grants to local fire
departments and encourages firefighters to go into the classroom to
teach fire safety.
SAFE focuses on
the fire risks posed by tobacco use and is funded by the Health
Protection Fund (tobacco tax). Careless smoking is cited as the
leading cause of fire deaths.
Reardon said
that every community that applies receives some amount of funding
with the amount determined by the scope of the individual program,
which is determined by the department itself. The ultimate goal,
said Reardon, is to "raise a fire safe generation."
Checking,
maintaining, and upgrading smoke detectors and routinely practicing
exit drills at homes are two of the main points stressed in the
program, as the majority of life-threatening fires often occur in
residential settings Fire officials hope children will take what
they learn in the classroom home to mom and dad, in case an
emergency situation does strike.
"And it's not
just in big cities. Small communities like this are the bare bone of
Massachusetts. A lot of parents don't realize that it only takes
two-and-a-half minutes for a wastebasket fire to fully involve an
entire bedroom," said Reardon.
Cheshire
Volunteer Fire Department this year received a $4,400 grant through
SAFE, which Sweet said went toward educational videos, "No Buts
About It," an educational presentation on the dangers of cigarette
smoking, as well as the tee-shirts handed out yesterday.
"I wanted to get
kids involved in the program and thought this would be a good way
for them to earn a tee-shirt. We just outline the basics, and
teachers do a lot more than we do, because we just don't have the
time," said Sweet.
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