Seeing the extensive fire precautions Harvard firefighter and S.A.F.E. coordinator Oona Aldrich has set up in her house on Shaker Road, it is surprising to learn that it took three house fires of her own before she became dedicated to fire prevention.

“I really got into firefighting as a result of some fires I experienced as a young adult where I had made a lot of mistakes,” said Aldrich. “When the fire department came they were really angry with me, but they were busy and they didn’t have time to explain to me what I had done wrong.”

Aldrich said that when she moved to Harvard and learned about the volunteer fire department, she made an effort to become involved.

“I thought that maybe I could try to help out a little so that I could learn how to be safe and then try to teach a few other people,” she said. “I just got bitten by the fire bug, I guess! Dan Powderly took me to the S.A.F.E conference about a month after I got started, and a few weeks later I was in the schools for Fire Prevention Week.”

Eleven years later, Aldrich is the S.A.F.E. coordinator for the Harvard Fire Department, and is responsible for the majority of the fire safety education programs in Harvard. In addition, she has been sharing her successful teaching techniques with other Massachusetts firefighters at the annual S.A.F.E. conferences for almost eight years.

Perhaps the accomplishment Aldrich is most proud of, however, is the fact that the Harvard Fire Department now visits every school in Harvard at least once a year.

“Most towns have Fire Prevention Week, but Harvard has Fire Prevention Month,” she said.

Aldrich revealed that Harvard is currently the leader in Massachusetts fire prevention education, as its school programs are much more extensive and involved than can be found almost anywhere else. Aldrich credits the Harvard community for making it possible for the program to develop as much as it has.

“The wonderful thing about Harvard is that there is so much dedication to learning, and it’s really nice to be able to teach in a place where you are embraced and encouraged,” she said.

Aldrich recently became aware that appreciation of her hard work and dedication extends further than her home town. This March she was one of three firefighters nationwide to be nominated for Liberty Mutual’s Firemark Award, which commended her for her “commitment to her local community by going above and beyond her daily responsibilities.”

Aldrich said she was very excited to be recognized for her work and is currently waiting to learn whether she has been selected for the grand prize: a $10,000 grant for the Harvard fire education program.

“I’d really love to do more, but funding has been such a big issue,” she said. “We run off of grants, which can be really difficult sometimes. As a result, most of the work we do is on very cheap hours, and it’s really hard to get people to leave their jobs to come and help out when they’re losing money, so it would be really nice to be able to get better funding.”