THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, SEpTEmbER 18, 2026 Page 7 Healey-Driscoll Administration Announces $2M in Fire Safety Funding Annual Grant programs Support Education, Alarms, and Home Safety Visits STOW—The Healey-Driscoll Administration is making nearly $2 million available to local fi re departments in support of fi re and life safety eff orts that protect Massachusetts’ most vulnerable residents. The annual Student Awareness of Fire Education (SAFE) and Senior SAFE grants fund trained firefighter-educators who deliver age-appropriate safety education to schoolaged children and older adults, as well as the associated costs of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, teaching equipment, and other expenses. “Consistent, statewide fire SCAM SPOOFING | FROM PAGE 5 shire reported losing $1,678,840 • 113 victims in Rhode Island reported losing $2,023,936 The FBI will never: • Call or email private citizens to demand payment, threaten arrest, or request personal or sensitive information. • Request payment via prepaid cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency ATMs to avoid arrest. • Ask victims to liquidate assets into cash and/or purchase gold bars, silver, or other precious metals. • Ask you to use large sums of your own money to catch a criminal. • Ask you to communicate via an encrypted application. To protect yourself from falling victim to this scam: • Be wary of answering phone calls from numbers you do not recognize. • Do not send money or gift cards to anybody that you do not personally know and trust. • Never give out your personal information, including banking information, Social Security number, or and life safety education has helped make Massachusetts one of the most fi re-safe states in the nation,” said State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine. “The SAFE and Senior SAFE grants are a vital part of that educational strategy. I strongly encourage every local fi re department to apply.” The SAFE grants contributed to the steepest decline in child fi re deaths in Massachusetts history. In 1994, there were more than two dozen child fi re fatalities; the SAFE grants were launched the following year and child fi re deaths never again reached even half that other personally identifiable information, to individuals you do not know. Scams impersonating the FBI and other government agencies can also occur via email. Common hallmarks of a scam email include misspellings, missing words, and incorrect grammar. Fraudulent emails may give the appearance of legitimacy by using pictures of the FBI Director or the Special Agent in Charge and include the FBI seal. Members of the public seeking to confi rm that they have been contacted by an actual FBI employee are encouraged to call the FBI Boston Division at 857-386-2000 and ask to be connected directly. If you think you are a victim of this scam, cease all contact with the scammers immediately, notify your fi nancial institutions and safeguard any fi nancial accounts. Contact your local law enforcement agency, fi le a police report, and fi le a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Be sure to keep any fi - nancial transaction information, including prepaid cards and banking records, along with all telephone, text, or email communications. number, declining at a rate about 30% steeper than fire deaths overall. The Senior SAFE grants were launched to provide education, smoke and carbon monoxide alarm installation, and other services to reduce fi re-related fatalities among older adults, who now represent the age group most likely to die in a fi re. As Massachusetts’ older adult population increased by about 28% since 2017, per capita fi re deaths have fallen by nearly 29%. Fire departments of every city, town, fi re district, and eligible state authority can apply to share $1.8 million in funding for SAFE and/or Senior SAFE expenditures. Departments must meet certain requirements, including mandatory fi re data reporting, to be considered. The Notice of Funding Opportunity, grant application, and eligibility requirements are available on the Department of Fire Services’ website. Applications must be submitted by 5:00 pm on September 29.
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