LYNN — Mirelys Feliciano Perez, a senior at Lynn English High School, was shocked to learn she was one of the first place winners for the city’s sixth annual fire prevention poster to billboard contest.
Perez, 17, entered a poster in the contest last year. She received an honorable mention, but didn’t place in that competition.
“I was surprised because I didn’t expect to win,” Perez said.
The city-wide contest honors nine winners each year, three students who place first, second and third in three categories: elementary, middle and high school.
Each winner receives an iPad in a ceremony hosted by the Lynn Fire Department and attended by the mayor, superintendent and state fire marshal, but like the two other first place winners, Perez has her poster displayed prominently as a billboard in Wyoma Square.
Perez may have been surprised to win, but it was hard to miss the eye-catching poster of a masked firefighter carrying a woman out of a burning building that was displayed in the Lynn Fire Department headquarters on Wednesday afternoon.
The theme of this year’s contest was “Working smoke alarms save lives. Test yours every month.” Each poster carried that message with winners chosen from about 3,000 entries.
“I thought everyone was going to show a smoke alarm so I wanted to focus more on the saving lives part,” said Perez, who considers art a hobby and is joining the U.S. Marine Corps after graduation.
The contest, a collaboration among the Lynn Fire Department, Lynn Public Schools and the city, costs about $7,500 and is funded by the school department. The idea came about because there were a lot of fires in the city six years ago, according to Lynn Fire Lt. Israel Gonzalez, head of the department’s Fire Prevention unit.
Lynn had been awarded a $295,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to install smoke alarms for residents, but half of the effort was around education on fire prevention in homes. This year’s contest theme is a repeat of the first year, according to Gonzalez.
“The goal of this contest is to have the children use their creativity to help highlight the importance of properly maintaining smoke detectors in each and every home in our community,” said Fire Chief Stephen Archer.
“We in the fire service know that working smoke detectors can double your chances of surviving a fire and combined with a practiced home escape plan, it greatly increases your chances of survival. So, that’s the message we’re trying to get out.”
Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler highlighted the importance of the partnership of the city, schools and fire department around safety, which he described as a lifesaving one. The contest is one of the initiatives, he said.
“This initiative is really around bringing artistic talent to bear on saving lives,” Tutwiler said. “When you think about it, it’s a simple thing, just checking your smoke detector, but it really does save lives.”
State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey said early detection from smoke alarms allows people to get out of their homes and call 911. In addition to saving the lives of residents, it allows the fire department to respond more promptly to reduce damage to buildings and the potential for firefighters to be injured or killed in the line of duty.
Evelyne Meas, a fifth-grader at Sewell-Anderson Elementary School, took first for the elementary category. Her poster shows a hand changing the battery of a smoke alarm with a calendar next to it that shows the month.
“I was excited (to win),” said 11-year-old Meas. “It’s important because it reminds people to test their smoke alarms every month.”
Mayor Thomas M. McGee said he was glad he wasn’t choosing the winners because the posters were all great.
“It’s great to see your input and how important it is for the members of the Lynn Fire Department to help share the awareness that saves lives,” said McGee. “Smoke alarms save lives. It’s a message we want to get out.”
