Meadowmont to host fire safety programs

After losing its original venue, the Chapel Hill Fire Department has found a new site to host its fire safety programs.

Located at 301 Meadowmont Village Circle, The Fire Place provides fire safety courses to residents with a special focus on educating children.

“It’s important that we allow citizens to participate in safety programs,” Assistant Fire Marshal Doug Kelly said.
“You don’t have to be a child to go out and participate.”

The center’s programming includes a puppet musical on fire safety for children as well as CPR classes for adults. The center is open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Area schools are encouraged to send students to the center to fulfill fire safety education requirements that students must complete in elementary school.

The department originally ran its programs out of the Chapel Hill Museum, which closed in June. Kelly said the department looked at many possible spaces before deciding on the Meadowmont location.

Last year, the department reached more than 1,000 children with its fire safety programs.

“We were fortunate enough to be able to get most of our historical collection into the new space,” he said.

“Everything from the museum except for the Model-T fire truck is here now.”

The Fire Place will operate at its new location until Nov. 18, when building renovations will force the center to close temporarily. Kelly said he hopes to have the facility open again by the spring.

The department rents the site from UNC Hospitals and requires no funding from the town because the center operates mainly on sponsor donations.

One of the center’s major sponsors is the N.C. Jaycee Burn Center, which donates between $3,000 and $5,000 to the fire department annually.

Ernest Grant, an outreach clinician for the burn center, said teaching children safety early helps them become prepared for emergencies.

“We’re really trying to work ourselves out of a job,” Grant said. “We’re all working toward the same thing — a safer and more fire-conscious society.”

Safe Kids N.C., another one of The Fire Place’s seven sponsors, partners with the fire department every October to participate in Fire Prevention Week.

“We like that the fire department is trying to think outside the box and come up with innovative ways to reach the public,” said Kerry Hall, spokeswoman for Safe Kids N.C.

“Having this outreach center where they’re going out into the community means they can reach more people, and the more people they reach, the better.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.