Fire station project sparked new partnerships

Benny Nichols

by Julie Fanselow

September 26, 2005 | Focus on Study Circles, Vol.16, No.2 | Fayetteville, North Carolina

 

Benny Nichols, study circle facilitator and
now chief of Fayetteville’s fire department,
helped make Fire Station No. 14 a reality.
The station will serve as a hands-on site for
12-week internships that are part of a
four-year fire science degree.

There’s a new fire station in Fayetteville, North Carolina, but Station No. 14 isn’t just any firehouse. For the first time in three decades, the Fayetteville State University neighborhood has its own fire station, and it doubles as a learning center for students preparing for fire science careers.

Fire Station No. 14 was the inspiration of Benny Nichols, chief of the fire department serving this mid-size city. In early 1999, Nichols—then assistant fire chief—was a facilitator for race relations study circles sponsored by the city Human Relations Commission and Fayetteville United, an organization dedicated to building stronger connections among residents of different races. Providing mentoring for youth was among the top priorities identified in these circles.

Soon after, Nichols had a brainstorm. Local high schools had just established career “academies,” as a way to help students think about job opportunities. Each academy focused on different trades and professions. At the same time, the fire department was struggling to attract more minority applicants. Says Nichols, “In the study circles, people kept on saying we need to support our young people, and I suddenly thought, what if the city built a fire station near Fayetteville State University—a historically black institution in a predominantly African-American neighborhood? And what if we used it as a magnet to recruit and train more people of color and women?”

Nichols took his proposal to Fire Chief Pete Piner, the chief’s successor Chief James Hall, and City Manager Roger Stancil. The three men liked the plan, but other projects took precedence. A faltering economy kept the idea on the back burner until 2003, when Fayetteville State welcomed a new chancellor, T.J. Bryan, whose goals included stronger campus community ties. Within weeks, Stancil visited Bryan to tell her about the fire station plan, and Bryan expressed interest.

Fayetteville State soon made a commitment to develop a four-year fire science degree with two concentrations—fire department manager and fire investigator. And Fayetteville Technical Community College expanded its own fire science program. The partnership grew in spring 2005 when staff at E.E. Smith High School, located near Fayetteville State, made the classes available to its students, too.

At the college level, many of the classes will be offered online—for local students and for people everywhere, including military personnel based at nearby Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base who are stationed around the world. Ground was broken on Fayetteville State land in spring 2005 for the city-funded $3.4 million, 19,000-square-foot Station No. 14, with completion expected in October. Aside from providing fire protection to the university neighborhood, the station will serve as a hands-on site for 12-week internships that are part of the four-year fire science degree.

It took six years for the project to move to completion, but Nichols says that gave officials plenty of time to build support and wait for the right people, like Bryan, to emerge in the right places. Ron McElrath, human relations director for Fayetteville-Cumberland County, credits Nichols with keeping the idea alive and providing leadership to see it move forward. “He kept the coals hot,” McElrath says.

Fayetteville's study circle program at a glance:

City and state: Fayetteville, North Carolina
Population: More than 124,000
Focus of study circles: Racism
Number of study circle participants to date: More than 2,500

Read more in our fall 2005 special issue of Focus

Learn more: Racial Equity