Public Service Announcement

Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency and Community Safety Net: Partners for childhood fire safety

(Wednesday, May 20, 2009) - For the past nine years, Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency has partnered with Community Safety Net, an organization that produces fire and life safety resources created especially for kids. To date, approximately 50,000 children and their families in HRM have benefited from this fire safety material.

As part of this initiative, Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency will present grade four students with a copy of Fire Safety - Smart Choices for Life, a comprehensive handbook that includes a section for parents. Also included in this handbook is an educational award winning DVD, featuring a teenage host who teaches kids how to prevent fires by identifying fire hazards, testing smoke alarms, developing a fire escape plan for their home, and to stop, drop, and roll if their clothes catch on fire.

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency would like to acknowledge and thank the businesses that have supported this initiative in the past. A Community Safety Net Coordinator will be contacting local businesses throughout 2009 for support with this initiative. Our goal this year is to present 6,000 children with the fire safety handbook.

Community Safety Net also offers students the opportunity to win a new computer by participating in a safety report contest. Information about the contest is contained in the fire safety handbook.

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Contact:
Fire Prevention Officer Kevin Thomas
490-2665

Michelle Neault, Community Safety Net
1-800-665-4878