Over the past 4 weeks, the Fayetteville Fire Department (FFD) has partnered with students from the E.E. Smith High School Fire Academy to distribute automatic, stovetop fire suppressors and smoke detectors to homes across the city.
“As kitchen fires remain the number one cause of home fires in the United States, stovetop fire suppression systems have become increasingly popular and are proving to be very effective in reducing the damage caused by kitchen fires in recent years,” Fayetteville Fire Captain Stephen Shakeshaft said in a press release.
Stovetop fire suppressors are magnet-mounted canisters that are placed over the stove in residential homes. Upon contact with an open flame, the canister activates and deploys an extinguishing agent directly over the fire.
The cost of the fire suppressors has limited FFD’s ability to distribute them to residents.
In response to kitchen fires and FFD's limited supplies of suppressors, the Economic and Community Development department purchased 468 stovetop fire suppressors using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.
Households were selected by analyzing 911 call data to pinpoint areas of risk within the city, then overlaying that information with maps of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved neighborhoods.
This initiative supports the city’s goal of creating safe and secure communities, ensuring residents are prepared for emergency and disaster response.
The Fire Academy at E. E. Smith High School is a program that prepares students for a rewarding career as a firefighter by providing them with an understanding of managerial and various issues pertaining to fire and emergency services. This program is in partnership with Cumberland County Schools, the city's Fire Department, Fayetteville Technical Community College, and Fayetteville State University.
See the City of Fayetteville’s Fay News video segment here.
To wrap up the first day, attendees were able to meet up for a social event at the Brad Halling American Whiskey Ko. in Southern Pines where a $10,000 check was presented to the Joint Special Operations Foundation for their scholarship fund. Photo pr
The three-story, 200,000 square-foot business incubator space is located at 420 Maiden Lane. The building features an elevator, construction has begun on handicap bathrooms for the first floor and the second and third floors feature window walls offering views of Segra Stadium.
Image provided by FTCCFocused on building the local workforce and streamlining the education process through real world learning, the Hope, Opportunity, Prosperity through Education Program at Fayetteville Technical Community College (FTCC), also kno