Safety pledges can help Countryside fire district

From New York City to Madison Township, Ind., community fire houses are struggling for funding and in some cases closing the doors.

Less than a quarter of U.S. fire departments are operating with sufficient budgets, according to a recent National Fire Protection Association survey.

To curb this trend, 10 local fire departments can again turn to their own residents to help them earn desperately needed funding.

Liberty Mutual Insurance’s $100,000 Be Fire Smart Fire Safety Pledge Program enables Vernon Hills residents to complete a fire safety quiz at www.BeFireSmart.com that could lead to the Countryside Fire Protection District earning a $10,000 grant. In all, 10 grants will be awarded.

Through Oct. 31, Vernon Hills residents can support their local department by taking the online “Burning Questions” quiz at BeFireSmart.com to demonstrate their fire safety knowledge.

The quiz asks true/false questions about where fires start and how to prevent and extinguish them. Those who complete the quiz, by answering 10 questions correctly, pledge that they are “fire smart” and earn a credit for the Countryside Fire District.

The site includes games, room-by-room hazard checklists, interactive fire safety quizzes and a tool to build your own fire escape plan. The kids’ section also features a downloadable coloring book that tells a story about the importance of never hiding from a firefighter during a fire.

Participants can spread the word by importing their email contacts and sending a challenge to friends and neighbors to encourage them to make the same pledge.

The 10 fire departments that accumulate the greatest number of credits based on the size of their community will each receive a $10,000 donation for their station.

This is the third year of the Be Fire Smart Fire Safety Pledge Program, designed to help America’s fire houses with new equipment or fire prevention program resources.

Last year, Liberty Mutual awarded a combined $100,000 to fire departments in College Park, Md.; Hutto, Texas; Merrimac, Mass.; Midwest City, Okla.; Mooresville, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; Tampa, Fla.; Tittabawassee Township, Mich.; Whitman, Mass.; and Wilmington, Mass.

“This is an opportunity for our own residents to avoid that fate by uniting in support of our fire servicemen and women who tirelessly work to keep us safe and secure,” said Janee Schuster a sales representative for Liberty Mutual’s Grayslake office. “At the same time, the short quiz and tour through the interactive site will provide moms and dads with valuable information about protecting their families and homes from the devastation of a fire.”