Online voting to determine if grants go to Mass. fire departments

By Allison Manning
The Patriot Ledger

WEYMOUTH, Mass. — Two local fire departments are hoping to win a $10,000 grant from Liberty Mutual.

Ten of the $10,000 grants are available as part of the insurance company's fire safety campaign, Liberty Mutual agent Nick Rusconi said.

The applicants include the Quincy and Weymouth fire departments. Both communities are in the medium-size municipality category, which has six grants available. Small and large towns are competing for two grants each.

To vote for a town, go to www.befiresmart.com and take a 10-question quiz on fire safety.

The deadline for voting is Dec. 21.

So far, Quincy is leading the pack with about 500 votes, Rusconi said.

"Quincy's really jumped all over it," he said.

Weymouth Fire Chief Robert Leary said his department hopes to expand its fire safety program. Currently, the program is for children in kindergarten through grade 3. Getting the grant would let the department offer it in higher grades.

"It's really about helping educate people about fire safety," said Weymouth schools community relations liaison Betsy Harris, who sought the grant.

This isn't the first Liberty Mutual grant that Weymouth has competed for. On Friday, Weymouth's athletic department was awarded a $2,500 grant through a similar contest. It was one of 20 grants given out nationwide.

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