The fire house was also set up at the fair, said Shelby Assistant Fire Marshall Ray Beck. He said the house was funded by the Cleveland County Homebuilders Association but was built by the Shelby Fire Department in 1990-1991. Beck said he went to elementary schools in the city Friday to give out plastic fire helmets, pencils and information about fires. Shelby fire officials will also go to different schools to speak during the week, and kids will come to tour the fire station. He and other fire officials in the city go to third-grade classrooms once a month to discuss a new topic about fire safety.
Some teachers have programs.
Beck said this month's topic is the chemistry of fire. Last month's was fire prevention and coming up they will talk about the different types of extinguishers. At the end of a school year, each student must write a 300-word report about fire safety. Awards are then given out for good fire safety reports. Julia Hughes, kindergarten teacher at Jefferson Elementary School in Shelby, says she will teach fire safety during the week as a part of the state's healthy living curriculum.