The East Rochester Alumni Foundation partnered with the East Rochester Fire Department at the end of October to provide smoke detectors to second grade students. As part of Fire Prevention Week, second graders visited the Fire Hall to learn about fire safety. Each student received a free smoke detector with a ten-year battery for their home.
The smoke detector project began in 2016 as a way to help children understand the importance of fire safety, following a fire-related death of an ER student in 2014. Fourth-grade student Tyler Doohan rescued six relatives from a fire at a relative's home in Penfield but lost his life while trying to rescue his disabled grandfather. The home had no working smoke detector. This partnership helps ensure that students have a working smoke detector in their home until their senior year.
Firefighters also visited the school earlier in the month to provide fire truck tours and discuss fire safety with elementary students.