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The Chautauqua Safety Village and the American Red Cross have begun a new collaboration supported by a grant from the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation.
The pilot project bridges the gap between simulated safety training and active home preparation with a goal to reduce fire-related tragedies in Dunkirk.
This spring, 138 first-grade students from Dunkirk Schools 3, 5 and 7 attended fire and traffic safety training at the Safety Village facility. Students practiced what they learned in a simulated environment improving their response to emergencies. The Chautauqua Safety Village, the Red Cross, and Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation distributed critical safety resources directly to students' families.
Each participating household received a fire safety ladder funded by the NCCF grant to provide a safe secondary exit from upper floors, alongside home fire safety resources from the Red Cross that help families physically map their layout, identify two routes out of every room, and designate an outside meeting place. Additionally, the materials include direct resource referrals and flyers connecting families to free, personalized in-home safety planning and free smoke alarm installations.
Since its inception in 2014, the American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign has resulted in more than 2,600 hundred lives saved nationally, and 63 within the Western New York region. Moving forward, the project's goal is to encourage partnerships with Chautauqua County school districts.