SAFE Fire Safety Houses

S.A.F.E. Funded Fire Safety Houses

The Executive Office of Public Safety through the Department of Fire Services has purchased one fire safety house for each of the fifteen fire mobilization districts in the state. Local fire departments may utilize these units to augment their public fire and life safety education programs.

The practical hands-on activities reinforce the lessons firefighters; specially trained as public fire and life safety educators, teach in the classroom. This fun, make-believe exercise prepares children to react safely and appropriately in case of an actual emergency. Having the children demonstrate how to react when a smoke alarm sounds or when they see smoke or fire can be used as an evaluation instrument to assess their understanding of concepts and behaviors taught in the classroom.

The fire safety house is an educational tool used to teach fire prevention and fire survival in an interactive manner. It is equipped with a living room, kitchen, bedroom and control room. The living room has an electric fireplace, bench seating, a telephone and an exit door. The kitchen, where most home fires occur, is equipped with a sink, stove and cabinets. The second-floor bedroom is furnished with a small bed, a smoke detector and a sliding door that opens onto a porch with an escape ladder.

In the control room, firefighters can operate a theatrical fog machine to "smoke" one or all rooms in the house. Children are instructed to "crawl low beneath the smoke" as they exit to safety. Along the way they check the bedroom door for heat with the back of their hand. If the door feels warm they use their second way out and descend the fire escape ladder. Once safely outside they proceed to the meeting place.

The phone system can be used to simulate a 9-1-1 emergency call to a dispatch center. Children are instructed to give their name, the address and type of emergency and to stay on the phone until they are told to hang up. Each room has a video camera and allows parents to view the children from outside on a television monitor.

List of S.A.F.E. Funded Regional Fire Safety Houses

District # Home Site / Contact District Communities

There are other fire safety houses in the Commonwealth that were not funded through this program located at the Boston, Bridgewater, North Andover, Kingston/Duxbury, Woburn, Gardner, Longmeadow/East Longmeadow, Lincoln, and Seekonk Fire Departments. Generally, these are for use only within the community. Please contact the fire education unit or fire chief on how to access them.

Scotty Fire Safety House Typical interior furnishings Surrey Fire Safety House Surrey ADA accessible rear porch

Contact the S.A.F.E Staff at:

• Telephone: (978) 567-3388
• E-Mail: Jennifer Mieth