Jessica Dayton of Chautauqua Safety Village holds a fire-safety ladder in Dunkirk.

The Chautauqua Safety Village and the American Red Cross are proud to announce a new collaboration launching a high-impact fire safety initiative. Supported by a generous grant from the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation (NCCF), this pilot project bridges the gap between simulated safety training and active home preparation to significantly reduce fire-related tragedies in Dunkirk.

This spring, 138 first-grade students from Dunkirk Schools 3, 5, and 7 attended fire and traffic safety training at the Safety Village facility, gaining the vital knowledge and skills needed to safely escape a home emergency. Students practiced what they learned in a simulated environment improving their response to emergencies. To bring those lessons to life, CSV, the Red Cross, and NCCF partnered this week to distribute critical safety resources directly to these students’ families.

Each participating household received a fire safety ladder funded by the NCCF grant to provide a safe secondary exit from upper floors, alongside home fire safety resources from the Red Cross that empower families to physically map their layout, identify two routes out of every room, and designate an outside meeting place. Additionally, the materials include direct resource referrals and flyers connecting families to free, personalized in-home safety planning and free smoke alarm installations.

Since its inception in 2014, the American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign has resulted in more than 2,600 hundred lives saved nationally, and 63 within its Western New York region. Moving forward, this project’s goal is to encourage partnerships with Chautauqua County School Districts. By combining interactive safety training and practice with tangible household tools, this partnership ensures that local families are not just taught about fire safety, but are fully equipped to practice it.