The Cape Elizabeth Fire Department has received a $13,604 fire prevention grant from the Department of Homeland Security. The federal grant requires a $1,511 local match, which will be funded in this case by the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation.
The money will be used by the fire department to purchase “Sparky’s Fire Hazard Prevention House,” a teaching aid that will be used in the schools during fire prevention week every fall.
Fire Chief Philip McGouldrick said it is “like a big doll house” that will be rolled into classrooms and will help volunteer firefighters teach students about fire prevention. The teaching aid could also be used at Village Crossings, an assisted-living facility in town.
McGouldrick said he has been trying to obtain the funds to purchase Sparky’s Fire Hazard Prevention House for three years. An initial application for a fire prevention grant for the purpose of purchasing the teaching aid was refused. Theo Dunfey, a member of the CEEF Board of Directors, said that the organization had approved the local grant to the fire department last spring.
In the past, the Cape Elizabeth Fire Department has used federal grants to purchase such things as a mounted floodlight system for one of their trucks, a new radio antenna near Fort Williams to improve communication and, in a joint grant with South Portland, a self-contained breathing apparatus that allows firefighters to refill their air tanks at fire scenes.
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