KEYSER - The Mineral County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security has been awarded a $3,000 grant to help implement the next step in an ongoing fire safety program.

The grant, obtained through Hayward Wilson and State Farm Insurance, will be used to start a program where all the volunteer fire departments in the county will offer free fire inspections of homes, said Marc Bashoor, OEM director.

It's a continuation of the Operation Safe Place program, designed to provide fire safety information to children and families throughout the county.

Bashoor said the first thing the grant money will be used for is to train the firefighters in how to perform the inspections.

"Hopefully, within the next 60 days, we can start doing the inspections and also handing out free smoke detectors," he said.

Bashoor said they hope to provide carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers to Mineral County families through the program.

Operation Safe Place got a boost last year from the Mineral County Board of Education, which gave the Office of Emergency Management $5,000 for the purchase of educational materials to use in the schools.

Bashoor has been working with the board to evaluate safety plans and processes at each of the county's schools. Each Mineral County student was given a copy of Getting Ready: A Family Emergency Guide, which offered residents useful and valuable information to help them prepare for disasters.

Liz Beavers can be reached at lbeavers@times-news.com.