PEABODY – The Peabody Fire Department has received a $6,515 state grant to teach students about fire awareness.”Our firefighters enjoy working closely with our school teachers to help youngsters learn what they can do to prevent fires, to survive those that do occur and how to respond correctly to fires and other emergencies,” said Peabody Fire Chief Steven E. Pasdon.The FY’11 Student Awareness of Fire Education or S.A.F.E. Program is funded through the Executive Office of the Public Safety and Security and administered by the state Department of Fire Services.The program offers trained fire educators to work with classroom teachers to deliver age-appropriate lessons on fire and life safety.”This is the 16th year of the S.A.F.E. Program in Massachusetts and we are truly reaching our goal of raising a fire safe generation of children,” said State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan.The average number of children who die in fires each year in Massachusetts is said to have dropped by 66 percent since the program started.”Since consistent comprehensive fire education is the one thing we are doing for children that we are not doing for every other age group, I think it’s fair to say we are proving fire education works,” Coan said.The program meets both the requirements of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Health Curriculum Frameworks and the state Department of Fire Services Curriculum Planning Guidebook.For more information about the program, visit www.mass.gov/dfs and type “SAFE” in the search box.