Acton Fire Department Receives Grant Funding from State Firefighter Safety Equipment and Student Awareness of Fire Education Programs

ACTON — Chief Anita Arnum is pleased to report that the Acton Fire Department has recently been awarded funding through the Firefighter Safety Equipment and Student Awareness of Fire Education (SAFE) grant programs.

Acton Fire, which already received a $19,500 grant from the Fiscal Year 2025 Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant program earlier this year, has now received an additional $9,500 in grant funds.

The Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant program provides reimbursement on purchases of 135 different types of eligible equipment. In many cases, the purchase of this equipment will help departments attain compliance with Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) or National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) safety standards.

Acton will use its funding to purchase turnout gear for firefighters, including coats, jackets, pants, boots, helmets, gloves and hoods, as well as extrication jackets for EMS crews. 

The funding will also cover the purchase of new equipment, enhancing the department’s safety and control during responses, such as rope and rescue safety equipment and hardware, a handheld thermal imager, and an electric vehicle emergency plug. The plug acts as an electric vehicle disabler, preventing an electric vehicle from accidentally starting or moving in the event of an emergency. 

The department also received $5,700 in SAFE program grants and $2,400 in Senior SAFE program grants through the Student Awareness of Fire Education (SAFE) grant program. 

The 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.

Fire and life safety easily combines with math, science, language arts and health or physical education lessons, making it simple to collaborate with school teachers and provide a developmentally appropriate education for students. 

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.

Senior SAFE is a similar program that aims to reduce fire-related deaths in older people by providing fire and life safety education within older demographics. 

“We are fortunate to be able to enhance our service to the community through these grants,” said Chief Acton.