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The National SAFE KIDS Campaign has announced that it was awarded a $750,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the United State Fire Administration. The funds will be used by the Campaign’s SAFE KIDS coalitions to decrease fire-related death and injury among children in 70 targeted high-risk communities across the country.

Each year, nearly 40,000 children ages 14 and under are injured and nearly 600 die in residential fires. For young children, the risk of death is even greater. They are less likely to sense danger and have difficulty reacting quickly and properly to a fire. Many tragically die in their sleep as a result of smoke inhalation before they even know there’s a fire.

SAFE KIDS will award competitive grants to approximately 70 coalitions to develop, implement and evaluate multi-faceted fire prevention programs that target communities with a disproportionately high rate of documented fire-related injuries and deaths. As part of these local efforts, coalitions will team up with fire departments to collect data on fire incidences and children. They will use the data to target specific neighborhoods and determine how best to prevent fire-related death among children in that community. Additionally, money will be used to train coalitions on evaluation procedures.

"Understanding how fires start in local communities and who is most at risk and why is crucial to finding the right intervention," said Heather Paul, Ph.D., executive director, National SAFE KIDS Campaign. "This money will enable our coalitions to team with those who understand the patterns of fire incidences best -- firefighters -- so that they can create prevention measures that can have a direct impact on children in their community."

For the last 11 years, SAFE KIDS and the United States Fire Administration (USFA) have worked together to keep families safe from the devastating effects of fire. The unwavering support of the USFA has helped a nationwide network of 300 state and local SAFE KIDS coalitions deliver lifesaving fire-prevention programs to millions of caregivers and children. In addition, firefighters and EMS professionals have tirelessly worked alongside fellow coalition members to distribute more than 100,000 smoke alarms and batteries to families in need and to strengthen smoke alarm legislation -- all of which has contributed to a 56 percent documented decline in residential fire-related deaths in the last decade.

The National SAFE KIDS Campaign is the first and only national nonprofit organization dedicated solely to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury -- the number one killer of children ages 14 and under. More than 300 state and local SAFE KIDS coalitions in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, comprise the Campaign. Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, M.D., Sc.D. is chairman of the Campaign.