FY2027 Student Awareness Fire Education (SAFE) and Senior SAFE Grant Notification

The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services (DFS), part of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, is soliciting grant applications from fire departments in every Massachusetts city, town, fire district, and eligible state authority to provide fire and life safety education to school-aged children (SAFE program) and senior citizens (Senior SAFE program), with applications due September 29, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. and a question submission deadline of September 22, 2026.

Eligible applicants are fire departments across the Commonwealth. Departments must be in compliance with Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System (MFIRS) and National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) obligations for calendar year 2025 by the application submission deadline. Fire departments that have not received SAFE Program funding during fiscal years 2022–2026 may apply for a $1,500 planning grant to build infrastructure, training, curriculum plans, and educational resources; planning-grant recipients may not use funds for classroom activities. All other applicants pursue full grant awards. Written student evaluations are required for all grade levels participating in SAFE, using DFS-developed evaluation tools where available for third, sixth, and tenth grades.

DFS will host five Microsoft Teams webinars during the application period; attendance by the fire chief, designated SAFE educator, or grant manager earns applicants 20 points toward their application score. Applications are evaluated using a scoring rubric in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. DFS prioritizes funding for applications scoring 80 percent or more of available points; applications below this threshold may receive reduced funding, and those scoring less than 20 percent will not be awarded.

Grant performance runs through June 30, 2027, with year-end reports due by July 30, 2027. Award announcements are estimated for the week of October 26, 2026. Unexpended funds must be returned to DFS within 30 calendar days of notification. Applications are submitted by email to SAFE.FireSafetyDivision@mass.gov.