GRANBY –  The Granby Fire Department will continue their efforts to reach and educate vulnerable populations about fire safety with the help of state grant money.

Interim Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski explained the SAFE grant is identified for the education of fire safety for two populations: the elderly and elementary school aged students. “They’re both highly vulnerable segments of society when it comes to fire and fire deaths,” he said.

In an attempt to reduce their risk of being injured or passing away in a fire he said the department uses the grant money to “go out and do programs” aimed at helping them reduce such risks. The department received $4,692 from the SAFE Grant to be put towards the use of educating young students and $2,480 from the Senior Safe Grant to help educate the town’s elderly population.

Czerwinski said this is not the first time the town has received the grants and each year they’re put to good use. “We have received this grant in previous years, and it’s well worth it to spend time with these kids,” he said.

While the coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult to be in schools as much as the department has in the past,  Czerwinski said they were continuing and expanding their efforts in new ways this year. One of the ways the department has expanded their reach is to include the MacDuffie School, which was not previously part of their program, which has a new coordinator, Micheline Turgeon.

“We reached out to them. They have a lot of international students, so fire safety may not be a high priority,” he said. Czerwinski said they were focused on teaching the students at the school about the “microwave safety and cooking in the dorms,” and called the effort “just another avenue to reach out and work with our local community.”

He said the department is also working with local parents to help reinforce fire safety in the home. “We’re having parents work with them about a fire escape plan for the house, fire detectors, simple things we’ve learned for years now, just teaching them again,” he said. “It’s important for them to keep reinforcing the idea.”

With regards to senior citizens, he said the department works with the Council on Aging to distribute education materials and items such as pot holders. “We do our best, distribute things to them, go down to the council on aging to put materials in the Meals on Wheels,” he said.