James W. Wright Public Education Award Presented

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Pub Ed Committee Chairman Scott Ewing (at left) and Vice Chairman Tim Boel discuss the 2011 Smoke Alarm Project during the opening session of the 39th Annual Public Fire Safety Educators’ Conference at the New York State Fire Academy. Photo by Rick Nemier

The recipients of the 2012 James W. Wright Public Education Award are the 20 fire departments that participated in the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs 2011 Smoke Alarm Project. These project partners were responsible for the installation of 2,800 long-life photoelectric smoke alarms. In addition, the participating sites conducted fire safety education for all recipient households and were able to reach over 5,000 individuals across New York.

The project sites that participated in the association’s Smoke Alarm Project were required to attend a four-hour training session in June 2011 at the FIRE 2011 Expo & Annual Conference in Verona, N.Y. During this training, participants learned about the best practices for successful smoke alarm installation and personalized fire safety education. Public Education Officer Dave Blizzard from Markham Fire & Emergency Services in Ontario, Canada, provided a detailed presentation about his agency’s successful smoke alarm installation project. Each site that completed the training was then provided with 50-150 smoke alarms that were installed in their community within the next four to six months.

The fire departments that participated in the NYSAFC Smoke Alarm Project and have been recognized with this year’s Public Education Award are:
• Arkport Fire Department
• Arlington Fire Department
• Baldwin Volunteer Fire Department
• Bangor Fire Department
• Berlin Fire Department
• Town of Brighton
• Chaffee-Sardinia Fire Department
• City of Corning Fire Department
• Fancher-Hulberton-Murray Fire Department
• Gates Fire District
• Grand Island Fire Company
• Lee Center Fire Department
• Nanuet Fire Engine Company
• Niagara Falls Fire Department
• Perry Center Volunteer Fire Department
• Plattsburgh District 3 Fire Department
• Ridge Road Fire District
• Sayville Fire Department
• Stittville Fire Department
• West Henrietta Fire Department

Chairman Scott Ewing, NYSAFC Public Education Committee, stated that this year’s award recipients were chosen because their activities focused on multiple fire safety topics. "This group of committed fire education professionals chose to learn new skills, such as how to best install a smoke alarm and how to provide in-home fire safety education, which are not typical tasks for a fire educator. The departments participating in this project needed to be able to recognize the unique fire risk factors in a home and educate the family immediately on how to reduce those risks." Ewing also noted that by being in the home, the departments were able to provide personalized education on topics such as dryer safety, safe home heating, smoke alarm maintenance and planning home fire escapes.

A preliminary evaluation showed that the smoke alarm recipient households had an increased knowledge of fire safety and prevention as a result of the project’s fire safety education component. NYSAFC also continues to document "saves" among recipient households, which are incidents where the smoke alarm sounded and provided early warning of danger. Participating fire departments also found that the project was helpful because it allowed them to enter some of the high-risk homes in their communities and observe the unique structures and circumstances they may be faced with in an emergency situation at the home.

NYSAFC conducted the Smoke Alarm Installation Project with grant funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grant program. Due to the overwhelming success of the project, NYSAFC is seeking additional funding to continue to conduct the project in the future.