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Fire commission hears update on firefighter-run school safety program
Summary
Presenters told the Fire Commission the San Francisco Firefighters and Safety Education (FICE) program reached about 11,730 students in 2016–17, relies heavily on volunteers and was updated with a FEMA grant; the commission thanked volunteers and discussed outreach and funding.
The San Francisco Fire Commission on Sept. 27 heard an update on a firefighter-led safety education program that delivers 30‑minute lessons to elementary students across the city.
Dwayne Eckert, a longtime volunteer with the San Francisco Firefighters and Safety Education program, described a K–6 curriculum focused on seven key fire‑safety points and said the program uses a script and visual props that have been reviewed for readability and by NFPA curriculum evaluators. "This program is the collaboration between the Elise Andrews Burn Foundation and the San Francisco Fire Department," Eckert said.
Anne, a representative of the Elise Andrews Burn Foundation, told the commission that because of data availability the foundation reports operations from February 2008 onward and that, in that span, the program has instructed roughly 84,165 students in more than 652 presentations. For the 2016–17 year, she said, the program delivered 83 presentations at 52 schools and reached 11,730 students. Materials and lessons are available in seven languages including English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Russian and Vietnamese.
Commissioners pressed on funding and scalability. Anne said the foundation pays for evaluation grading and supplies and that per‑student material costs run about $1, adding that a FEMA grant of $200,000 funded a curriculum overhaul. She said the program relies heavily on volunteers: "We did all of this with 9 volunteers for this year," she told the commission. Commissioners praised the volunteers and accepted certificates of recognition for several presenters.
Commissioner Joe Aliota Veronese asked how schools request presentations; Eckert said schools call the foundation and an intern coordinates volunteers via a spreadsheet. The presenters also told the commission that the San Francisco Unified School District mandated the FICE curriculum be taught in every elementary school last year.
The commission thanked the volunteers and the foundation for the program’s reach and for evaluation work that demonstrates learning gains; presenters said they will provide budget details and further data to commissioners on request.
The commission did not take any formal action on the presentation.
