Fire
marshal
can work
on the road
PUTNAM — The Putnam Fire Marshal’s Office recently received a $4,100 fire prevention grant from FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial property insurers.
Putnam Fire Marshal Scott Belleville said the grant will be a huge boost to the fire marshals’ work, making it much more efficient.
He said the funds will be used to buy two computers with cellular technology. These computers (and wireless printers) would be used in the field. They will allow the fire marshal and deputy fire marshal to write reports, inspection forms, plus interviews and statements at the scene of a fire and more. The computers can connect from the field to the server in Town Hall so the fire marshals can look up past inspections, forms, reports and more. “We can have internet anywhere,” he said. The marshals can look up codes, anything they need.
For example, he said, he can conduct an interview at a fire; type in a statement and then print it out right there and ask the interviewee, “Is this correct?”
Belleville estimated the department should have the computers in about a month.
FM Global makes these grants to assist with fire prevention activities in the community to help educate the community and reduce the number of fires.
Because fire continues to be the leading cause of property damage worldwide, during the past 40 years FM Global has contributed millions of dollars in fire prevention grants to fire service organizations around the globe.
“At FM Global, we strongly believe the majority of property damage is preventable, not inevitable,” said Michael Spaziani, assistant vice president – manager of the fire prevention grant program. “Far too often, inadequate budgets prevent those organizations working to prevent fire from being as proactive as they would like to be. With additional financial support, grant recipients are actively helping to improve property risk in the communities they serve.”
Through its Fire Prevention Grant Program, FM Global awards grants to fire departments—as well as national, state, regional, local and community organizations worldwide—that best demonstrate a need for funding, where dollars can have the most demonstrable impact on preventing fire, or mitigating the damage it can quickly cause.  

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