The Hartford’s Junior Fire Marshal^® Program
Celebrates Sixty Years of Fire Safety Education!

2007 is a milestone year for The Hartford’s Junior Fire Marshal (JFM) program!

The JFM program was created by The Hartford in 1947 to teach children the basics of personal fire safety and to keep families safe.  Over the past 60 years, The Hartford has “deputized” more than 110 million Junior Fire Marshals with our signature red fire helmets.

In this special year of celebrating “Sixty Years of Safety,” the program’s Web site and curriculum are getting a facelift to strengthen its relevance to today’s kids, parents and educators.   We are also pleased to announce a new, national ambassador with decades of experience in firefighting and fire prevention and education – Dennis Smith – to help us communicate the program’s messages. 

Dennis Smith is a retired firefighter, a Ground Zero Volunteer, a best-selling author and the original publisher of Firehouse magazine.  He is also an honorary Junior Fire Marshal graduate as a result of his work with the program in the 1970’s. 

The statistics tell the story!

The Hartford recently commissioned two surveys regarding fire safety education in schools.  The statistics provide evidence that fire safety education efforts need to be improved. 

·         Two-thirds of firefighters felt fire safety is not taught to today’s youth as well as it could be

·         An overwhelming majority (97%) of surveyed firefighters felt fire safety should be taught in school, with two-thirds adding home as an important classroom

·         Of the parents and educators surveyed, only half felt that fire safety is adequately taught to children, but 95% said doing so is vital

And, as it has been for the past 60 years, that’s where The Hartford’s Junior Fire Marshal program comes in.

How can you help?

The above findings underscore the importance of sharing the JFM program with your clients and prospects, so they can ask their children’s schools to use our fire safety curriculum and proactively order the “Be Fire Safe” kits for use in their own homes.

The Junior Fire Marshal Program can easily be used by agents to strengthen their standing in their communities.  For a very modest investment, agents can sponsor the program in their locale, donating educational materials, such as the signature red Junior Fire Marshal helmets and coloring posters, to their local school system or fire departments.   You can increase your agency’s visibility and earn the satisfaction of knowing your efforts can save lives.  Product and ordering information is available at www.thehartford.com/jfm.
  
We hope our new materials will help you initiate valuable conversations about fire safety and prevention education that can lead to new business opportunities, but more importantly help save lives.  Agents and brokers have added immeasurably to the success and longevity of The Hartford’s Junior Fire Marshal program.

No home is ever completely fire-safe.  A house fire breaks out every 83 seconds; with 40,000 accidentally set by kids annually, according to the National Fire Protection Association -- but research shows that the best fire safety is fire prevention.  And prevention begins with education!