Public Service Announcement from the Bureau of Fire Prevention - November 6, 2006

San Francisco Fire Department Public Service Announcement

The San Francisco Fire Department, in partnership with the Department of Public Health, the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation (AARBF) and the San Francisco Housing Authority, have begun a new Fire Safety and Prevention Outreach Program for seniors.

The objectives of this new program, funded for one year by a grant through FEMA, are to provide Education, Home Assessments and Smoke Detector Installation for seniors in private housing, public housing or senior housing facilities in San Francisco.

Educational presentations are made at senior centers, churches, private senior organization meetings and senior housing facilities. Educational presentations are also available to house managers, floor wardens and facility managers of public housing and senior housing facilities.

For more information or to schedule an educational presentation, call Corrie Bowe at (415)558-3317.

FACTS

According to the 2000 Census in San Francisco, people aged 60 and over make up 17.6% of the total population.

The elderly community in the United States suffers close to 30% of all fire deaths and 11% of all fire injuries.

In 2003, over ¼ of the seniors that died in residential fires in the United States did not have a working smoke detector.

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