NAUGATUCK — With 10 days to go, the Naugatuck Fire Department is looking for over 100 more people to take a quiz that could win it a $10,000 grant.
Naugatuck has fallen to eighth place in the national contest, behind Weymouth and Bridgewater Fire Departments, both from Massachusetts. Naugatuck needs to come in sixth to secure the grant.
“We need something big here. … I think it’s well within our reach,” Deputy Fire Chief Ellen Murray said.
Liberty Mutual Insurance is offering 10 grants to fire departments across the country that can get the most people to take an online fire safety quiz.
Anyone can take the quiz, which takes about three minutes, online at www.BeFireSmart.com/naugatuck-fire-dept.
The quiz consists of 10 questions designed for both children and adults.
It doesn’t matter if the questions are answered correctly. At the end of the quiz, it will ask for an e-mail for verification. E-mail addresses will not be used for solicitation, Murray said. Once the e-mail notice is sent, quiz-takers must click the link in their e-mail to verify their address. The quiz can be taken once per e-mail address.
The quiz opened Sept. 1 and closes Oct. 31.
If Naugatuck wins the grant, a good portion of the earnings will be rolled back into fire prevention and education, according to Murray. She said the fire department’s budget for education is $500.
The grants are awarded to towns based on size and percentage of people who took the quiz. Naugatuck, like most towns, is in the medium division for towns with 10,000 to 100,000 residents. There are six grants available for this division.
“I’m really hoping that the community will come together and help us get to the numbers that we need,” Murray said.
