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ELIZABETH FIRE DEPARTMENT AWARDED $60,144 FIRE PREVENTION AND SAFETY GRANT
Largest Award in New Jersey under this Department of Homeland Security Program

ELIZABETH, NJ MARCH 2, 2006-- Mayor Chris Bollwage announced that the Elizabeth Fire Department has been approved to receive a $60,144 grant through the Department of Homeland Security’s Fire Prevention and Safety Grant. This grant is the largest awarded through the Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program in New Jersey.

The Elizabeth Fire Department will utilize the grant funds to purchase a fire safety house, which is an instructive trailer that simulates a home environment and is utilized to inform and educate the public regarding fire safety and prevention. In addition, through this grant the Elizabeth Fire Department will purchase a “Sparky” Fire Dalmatian Dog costume from the New Jersey Division of Fire Safety, which will also be used to raise public awareness through an expansive public safety campaign.

“Elizabeth is proud to receive this grant, which will enable fire safety demonstrations and essential information to be conveyed to our children and families through this critical educational resource,” said Mayor Chris Bollwage, “raising public awareness regarding the importance of fire safety and prevention is vital to the overall health and safety of Elizabeth’s residents.”

The scope of this initiative is to implement the most comprehensive public safety campaign, which includes highlighting the dangers of fire, fire-related incidents that can occur, as well as prevention and evacuation practices to follow.

The Fire Safety House will be utilized to compliment the Elizabeth Fire Department’s current efforts and enable a critical expansion and public outreach of this program. The Fire Safety House will be a mobile unit that can be brought to schools, senior citizen complexes, as well as community events. The Fire Safety House will enable members of the Elizabeth Fire Department to provide a hands-on demonstration of fire prevention and techniques to extinguish a fire or fire-related incident.

Through the utilization of the new Fire Safety House as well as the “Sparky” component within the schools, the Elizabeth Fire Department Fire Prevention Bureau anticipates raising juvenile fire prevention awareness and interacting with more than 25,000 students during the upcoming school year.

Furthermore, the Elizabeth Fire Department Prevention Bureau anticipates sharing fire and burn prevention, as well as evacuation procedures with approximately 500 senior citizens in conjunction with the use of the Fire Safety House.

“Implementing public safety initiatives and safeguarding the residents of Elizabeth remains a priority for the Elizabeth Fire Department,” said Onofrio A. Vitullo, Director of the Elizabeth Fire Department, “this grant will greatly enhance our ability to effectively serve the residents of Elizabeth.”

This grant will fund the purchase of a handicapped accessible Fire Safety House, which will include, but is not limited to:

A Sprinkler Room, which displays the importance of sprinklers and the critical role they can play in containing and/or extinguishing a fire.

Weather Smart feature, which will enable various weather simulations to be viewed via DVD for the education of children, as well as all members of the community within a special room in the Fire Safety House.

Smoke Detector with Strobe Light

Carbon Monoxide Detectors

“Burning” trash can, which is located in the bedroom of the Fire Safety House. It has the capability of being ignited to simulate a flame within the can. This option is crucial to raising public awareness regarding the dangers of placing fire ignition items or items that were ignited and are not completely or properly put out, inside a garbage receptacle.

In addition to the Fire Safety House, the Elizabeth Fire Department will purchase a “Sparky” costume, which will be utilized in conjunction with educational and information sharing sessions with juveniles. The “Sparky” costume is an important educational tool and is essential to disseminating information regarding fire prevention and fire safety, particularly with children. The “Sparky” costume is a vital component that assists fire department personnel in conveying important information regarding fire safety to children and diffuses the apprehension factor that may accompany information that pertains to fire and fire-related activities. The Elizabeth Fire Department continues to act proactively in addressing fire prevention, burn prevention, as well as safeguarding the residents of Elizabeth in the event of a fire-related incident.

The Elizabeth Fire Department Prevention Bureau has been visiting public and parochial schools for more than twenty-five years, which has resulted in approximately 500,000 students receiving fire prevention, burn prevention, and evacuation instruction.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration/National Fire Data Center’s Residential Fires and Child Causalities Topical Fire Research Series, Volume 5 – Issue 2 April 2005, “in 2002, there were an estimated 2,490 children aged 14 or younger who were injured or killed in residential fires. Fifty-six of child fire casualty deaths were under the age of five.” Furthermore, “approximately 55% of children who were killed by fire in residential structures were asleep at the time of the fire, 26% were trying to escape when they died, 9% acted irrationally and 9% were classified as unable or ‘too young to act,’ which implies that the child did not understand what was happening around him or her and probably did not take meaningful action to escape the fire.”