DHS/FEMA recognizes ESFI safety efforts

ROSSLYN, VIRGINIA - The Electrical Safety Foundation International ESFI has been awarded a prestigious Fire Prevention & Safety FP&S Grant from the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency DHS/FEMA for the second consecutive year.

DHS/FEMA awards the grants annually to support fire prevention and safety efforts, giving priority to programs aimed at highrisk populations, like children and firefighters.

According to ESFI President Brett Brenner, thousands of people in the U.S. are injured or killed each year in electrical accidents and fires in and around the home. Lower income families and children tend to be at highest risk of these types of accidents due in part to a lack of electrical safety education. Home fires are particularly dangerous for children, who often lack the knowledge about what to do when a fire occurs.

With the funding provided to ESFI through last yearÂ’s FP&S Grant, ESFI teamed up with Scholastic Corporation to develop and launch a new electrical safety awareness program that delivers critical electrical and fire safety information to children in grades 3 to 5 in Title I low income schools. This program features dynamic teaching tools and educational resources, including detailed lesson plans and activities, and is currently being used in more than 25,000 classrooms nationwide.

“Teaching children how to stay safe around electricity and prevent electrical and fire hazards will empower them to establish lifelong safety habits,” Brenner said. “With the additional support provided by the 2009 Fire Prevention & Safety Grant, ESFI will continue to deliver important electrical safety and fire prevention messages to schools across the country.”

ESFI will create a new program using educational resources developed with the help of feedback from students and teachers reached by ESFIÂ’s 2008 FP&S Grant program. The new program targets the same atrisk student population and will provide teachers with materials they can use to incorporate important safety lessons, tips, and maintenance reminders for smoke alarms and portable space heaters into their annual curriculums.