Benton Harbor Public Safety Receives Fire Safety Award

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The Benton Harbor Department of Public Safety has received the 2021 Leland Gayheart Prevention Award. It says Leland Gayheart was a 23-year-old firefighter who lost his life due to a burn injury in 1991. As a tribute, the Leland Gayheart Prevention Award was created to encourage prevention programs at local fire departments. It’s given out by the the Gayheart family in conjunction with the University of Michigan Trauma Burn Center. Benton Harbor Public Safety has been selected for the honor this year thanks to its prevention efforts in the community. It says during 2020, it installed more than 1,100 smoke alarms throughout Benton Harbor in a partnership with MI-Prevention and the Sound-Off Program. In fact, it says Benton Harbor was the number one city in the state for smoke alarms installed in 2020. With residents being quarantined at home due to the pandemic and children home from school, the department had on duty public safety officers install smoke and CO alarms in homes. It also gave away smoke detectors at food drives.