Town of Framingham will receive a $7,625 grant through the Student Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) Program, to help educate students about fire prevention and safety.

The grant was announced in a joint press release from Sen Karen Spilka, Rep. Chris Walsh and Rep. Tom Sannicandro.

“The S.A.F.E program is a great way to increase fire education and allows local fire departments to show our students how to prevent fires and what they should do in an emergency,” said Spilka in the release. “This grant will ensure our students have the skills they need to be safe and prepared in their everyday lives. I am pleased that the towns in my district that applied for funding have been awarded grants through this invaluable program.”

“S.A.F.E. is a great way to provide safety information to kids who sometimes don’t know the dangers of playing with fire or how to react if they see smoke,” said Sannicandro. “Trainings like these allow kids to stay safe and possibly save themselves or others. It’s great that Framingham will have the chance to once again participate.”

“Often our children are the first point of contact for educating the rest of us in good public health practices,” said Walsh. “This very important grant will ripple out information on fire safety into the community and have an effect far larger than any other method.”

The S.A.F.E grants are distributed each year through the Department of Fire Services in the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

The mission of the S.A.F.E. program is to provide students with the information needed to recognize the dangers of fire, including the fire hazards that smoking-related materials pose.

The grants give local fire departments the resources so that firefighters can provide fire and life safety programs to students in grades K-12.

In combination with other fire education and prevention initiatives, the S.A.F.E. program has led to a 70% decrease in child fire deaths, from an average of 18 per year to 5 per year.