“This program is an extension of our responsibility as a leading home insurer to help families protect their homes and possessions, or to recover after a devastating fire, by enabling communities and their local fire service to unite in a common effort to become more fire-smart,” said Greg Gordon, senior vice president of consumer marketing at Liberty Mutual. “We applaud these efforts by rewarding local fire departments with desperately needed funding to put towards education programs, upgraded equipment, or any other service that will help them keep their local families more secure.”
Tight fire department budgets across the nation have resulted in cutbacks in services, training and equipment and even the closure of some fire stations. But for 10 communities, local residents and Liberty Mutual Insurance have teamed up to earn the fire department a much-needed $10,000 grant.
The winning cities and towns in Liberty Mutual’s third annual Be Fire Smart Fire Safety Pledge program are:
- Large communities (greater than 100,000 residents) – Lexington (Ky.) Division of Fire & Emergency Services and Norfolk (Va.) Fire-Rescue
- Mid-size communities – Bridgewater (Mass.) Fire Department, Caledonia (Mich.) Fire Rescue, Covington (Ky.) Fire Department, Middleton (Wis.) Fire District, Weymouth (Mass.) Fire Department and Wilmington (Mass.) Fire Department
- Small communities (less than 10,000 residents) – Denair (Calif.) Volunteer Fire Department and Merrimac (Mass.) Fire Department