The Bridgewater Fire Department has received a $4000 fire prevention grant from FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial property insurers. Gary Keith, FM Global’s Vice President of Engineering Standards presented the award to Firefighter Jeffrey Germaine, Director of the Bridgewater Seniors First program and Executive Assistant Melissa Sullivan at Bridgewater Fire Department headquarters.
The award will be used to support the department’s senior outreach program, Bridgewater Seniors First. The program was launched in May of 2015 and is a partnership between the Bridgewater Fire Department and Office of Elder Affairs. The program offers seniors confidential, personalized home visits in the privacy and convenience of their home. Since its launch just over a year ago, the team has conducted more than 100 home safety visits remedying such hazards as missing or inoperable smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, trip hazards, leaking furnaces, clogged dryer vents, combustibles near heat sources, and installation of handrails. As part of the home safety visit, the team educates seniors on fire prevention.
Because fire continues to be the leading cause of property damage worldwide, during the past 40 years FM Global has contributed millions of dollars in fire prevention grants to fire service organizations around the globe. Locally, the company has awarded grants to a number of Massachusetts-based organizations.
“At FM Global, we strongly believe the majority of property damage is preventable, not inevitable,” said Michael Spaziani, manager of the fire prevention grant program. “Far too often, inadequate budgets prevent fire from being as proactive as they would like to be. With additional financial support, grant recipients are actively helping to improve property risk in the communities they serve.”
Through its Fire Prevention Grant Program, FM Global awards grants to fire departments- as well as national, state, regional, local and community organizations worldwide- that best demonstrate a need for funding, where dollars can have the most demonstrable impact on preventing fire, or mitigating the damage it can quickly cause.
To learn more about FM Global’s Fire Prevention Grant Program, or to apply for a grant, please visit www.fmglobal.com/grants.
The Bridgewater Fire Department would like to thank FM Global for this award and their support of the senior members of our community and the Bridgewater Seniors First program.