Student Awareness of Fire Education (SAFE)

The SAFE grant program provides resources for fire departments to teach fire safety education in schools.
S.A.F.E. Program logo

The Student Awareness of Fire Education (SAFE) program provides grants to local fire departments to teach fire and life safety to children in schools. The program teaches students to recognize the dangers of fire and the fire hazards of tobacco products through 23 key fire safety behaviors taught in developmentally appropriate ways. Fire and life safety is easy to combine with math, science, language arts and health or physical education lessons, making it easy to collaborate with school teachers. Since the SAFE program began in 1996, child fire deaths have dropped significantly in Massachusetts.  In 2021, Massachusetts marked two and a half years without a child fire fatality, the longest period in the Commonwealth's recorded history.

SAFE is one of two fire and life safety education grant programs available to Massachusetts fire departments. The second program is Senior SAFE, which aims to reduce older adult fire deaths through fire and life safety education.

What is SAFE? is a short pamphlet that describes the program for parents and care providers. 

Read the SAFE and Senior Safe mission statements here.

SAFE Teaching Tools

Additional Resources

Fire Safety Houses

SAFE provides one fire safety house for each of the 15 fire mobilization districts in Massachusetts. Fire safety houses are mobile educational tools for teaching fire prevention. Educators use the house to show specific fire safety behaviors. Children then use the house to practice the behaviors. For example, children can practice escaping from a bedroom window through “pretend” smoke. The fun exercises in a fire safety house can prepare children to react safely in an emergency.

To use a fire safety house, contact the fire department for your region:

DistrictDepartmentTowns Served
District 1

Falmouth Fire Rescue

(508) 495-2517

Barnstable (Barnstable, West Barnstable, Hyannis, Centerville/Osterville/Marston Mills, Cotuit), Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Chilmark, Dennis, Eastham, Edgartown, Falmouth, Gay Head, Gosnold, Harwich, Mashpee, Nantucket, Oak Bluffs, Orleans, Otis A.F.B., Provincetown, Sandwich, Tisbury, Truro, Wellfleet, West Tisbury, and Yarmouth
District 2

Hanson Fire Department

(781) 293-9571

Abington, Bridgewater, Brockton, Carver, Cohasset, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Lakeville, Marion, Marshfield, Mattapoisett, Middleboro, Norwell, Onset, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rochester, Rockland, Scituate, Wareham, West Bridgewater, and Whitman
District 3

Fall River Fire Department

(508) 324-2740

Acushnet, Attleboro, Berkley, Dartmouth (Districts #1, 2 & 3), Dighton, Fairhaven, Fall River, Freetown, New Bedford, North Attleboro, Norton, Plainville, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea, Taunton, and Westport
District 4

Mansfield Fire Department

(508) 261-7493

Avon, Bellingham, Canton, Dover, Easton, Foxborough, Franklin, Holbrook, Mansfield, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Norfolk, Norwood, Randolph, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole, Westwood, and Wrentham
District 5

Danvers Fire Department

(978) 762-0247

Beverly, Danvers, Essex, Gloucester, Hamilton, Ipswich, Lynnfield, Manchester, Marblehead, Middleton, Nahant, Peabody, Rockport, Salem, Swampscott, Topsfield, and Wenham
District 6

Lowell Fire Department

(978) 459-5553

Andover, Ayer, Bedford, Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Groton, Littleton, Lowell, North Reading, Pepperell, Shirley, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Westford, and Wilmington  
District 7

Leicester Fire Department

(508) 832-7800

Auburn, Blackstone, Brookfield, Charlton, Douglas, Dudley, East Brookfield, Grafton, Leicester, Mendon, Millbury, Millville, Northbridge, North Brookfield, Oxford, Southbridge, Spencer, Sturbridge, Sutton, Upton, Uxbridge, Warren, Webster, West Brookfield, and Worcester
District 8

Fitchburg Fire Department

(978) 345-9660

Ashburnham, Ashby, Barre, Berlin, Bolton, Boylston, Clinton, Fitchburg, Gardner, Hardwick, Harvard, Holden, Hubbardston, Lancaster, Leominster, Lunenburg, New Braintree, Oakham, Paxton, Petersham, Phillipston, Princeton, Royalston, Rutland, Sterling, Templeton, Townsend, West Boylston, Westminster, and Winchendon
District 9

Whately Fire Department

(413) 478-0873

Ashfield, Athol, Bernardston, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Deerfield, Gill, Greenfield, Hawley, Heath, Erving, Leverett, Leyden, Monroe, Montague, New Salem, Northfield, Orange, Rowe, Shelburne, Shutesbury, Sunderland, Warwick, Wendell, and Whately
District 10

Goshen Fire Department

(413) 268-7161

Amherst, Belchertown, Chesterfield, Cummington, Easthampton, Goshen, Granby, Hadley, Hatfield, Huntington, Middlefield, Northampton, Pelham, Plainfield, Southampton, South Hadley, Ware, Williamsburg, Westhampton, and Worthington
District 11

Three Rivers Fire Department

(413) 283-7161

Agawam, Blandford, Brimfield, Chester, Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Granville, Hampden, Holland, Holyoke, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Monson, Montgomery, Palmer, Southwick, Springfield, Three Rivers, Tolland, Wales, Westfield, West Springfield, and Wilbraham
District 12

Lanesboro Fire Department

(413) 443-2321

Adams, Alford, Becket, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Dalton, Egremont, Florida, Great Barrington, Hancock, Hinsdale, Lanesboro, Lee, Lenox, Monterey, Mount Washington, New Ashford, New Marlborough, North Adams, Otis, Peru, Pittsfield, Richmond, Sandisfield, Stockbridge, Savoy, Sheffield, Tyringham, Washington, West Stockbridge, Williamstown, and Windsor
District 13

Reading Fire Department

(781) 944-3132

Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Braintree, Brookline, Burlington, Cambridge, Chelsea, Dedham, Everett, Lexington, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Milton, Needham, Newton, Quincy, Reading, Revere, Saugus, Somerville, Stoneham, Wakefield, Waltham, Watertown, Wellesley, Weston, Weymouth, Winchester, Winthrop, Woburn, and Massport
District 14

Acton Fire Department

(978) 929-7414

Acton, Ashland, Boxborough, Carlisle, Concord, Framingham, Holliston, Hopedale, Hopkinton, Hudson, Lincoln, Marlborough, Maynard, Milford, Natick, Northborough, Sherborn, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Stow, Sudbury, Wayland, and Westborough
District 15

Amesbury Fire Department

(978) 388-1333

Amesbury, Boxford, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Merrimac, Methuen, Newbury, Newburyport, North Andover, Rowley, Salisbury, and West Newbury

Contact   for Student Awareness of Fire Education (SAFE)

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