Wellesley firefighter honored for fire/safety education

Wellesley Fire Department Lt. Paul Delaney was recognized as a finalist for the Massachusetts Fire & Life Safety Educator of the Year Award at a recent conference in Westford where the theme was Keeping Everybody Safe Every Day.

Delaney, who has spent more than 14 years as a fire educator, had his fire and life safety educational programs highlighted for their creativity and success.  He took a program limited to school assemblies and showing a dated film at the senior center to a full service program that reaches everyone from kindergarteners to seniors with interactive ways to learn fire safety. He has a program in all the elementary schools, a summer program for middle school students, presents at the high school’s career day, teaches with the Senior Center, and is a CPR instructor. The Wellesley Fire Department and Veterans Council provide an annual Thanksgiving dinner to seniors and Lt. Delaney uses the opportunity to promote key messages about holiday and heating safety, fall prevention and carbon monoxide safety. And then, of course, there was that little matter of saving a woman’s life on Cape Cod over the summer while he was on vacation.