Celebrating the inaugural year of the Chapel Hill High School Firefighter Technology class, the Town of Chapel Hill Fire Department dedicated a fire truck to the class in early November.
According to Chapel Hill High School Firefighter Technology teacher Perry Hall, the donation of this truck will benefit his students’ learning experience. “It gives us the ability for a lot more hands-on training. Before we had the truck, we would carry the loose equipment out or have to borrow a fire truck from the Chapel Hill or Carrboro Fire Departments,” Hall said.
The new fire truck will help Firefighter Technology students prepare for working with a real fire truck in the future. “As a learning lab, it helps students see things as they really are. This will help the students make decisions if they want to get involved [with local fire departments],” Fire Chief Matt Sullivan said.
According to Sullivan, while the fire department was looking to recruit future Chapel Hill Fire Department employees, he approached Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) CTE Di- rector Kathi Breweur two years ago about starting the Firefighter Technology program.
Breweur was excited about getting the program started at Chapel Hill High School and made Sullivan’s vision come to life this year.
Chapel Hill Assistant Fire Chief Keith Porterfield is in charge of hiring firefighters. He spoke about how the fire truck donation will benefit the Chapel Hill Fire Department.
“Having the fire truck here for the other students to see is going to help with recruitment. One of the reasons that we founded the Firefighter Technology program to begin with was that I was hav- ing trouble getting local people to apply for the fire department,” Porterfield said.
Junior Otis Royer is aspiring to become a firefighter, but he was not always sure about his future.
“After high school, I didn’t know what I was going to do. [Being a firefighter] is something that I have become very passionate about, and I can really see myself doing this in the future,” Royer said at the dedication.
Mayor Pam Hemminger, Superintendent Dr. Pam Baldwin, CHCCS board chair James Barrett, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Education Consultant David Barbour and Executive Dean of Orange County Operations Penny Gluck were all in attendance at the dedication.
The dedication took place during lunch in the Firefighter Technology and Automotive Services classrooms.
After the event, the people in attendance had refreshments prepared by the Chapel Hill High School Foods I and II classes.
