FIRE SAFETY HOUSE is renovated, gets ready for school tours

The Rotary Club of Taylor, along with many others, visited the newly renovated Taylor Fire Department Fire Safety House Thursday, September 15 during a grand reopening celebration.

Soon enough, it’ll be fourth-graders from across the City’s schools that will be the visitors … learning important lessons about fire prevention.

Mayor Rick Sollars during the event lauded the efforts to renovate the house and restart the fire educational programs. He also told the Rotary members that he was glad they could view the facility now vs. what it looked like previous to the repairs.

The house had fallen into a state of disrepair after budget problems in the City led to staffing cuts in the Fire Department, along with changing ideas and uses for the building.

The house is located next to the Fire Station No. 3 on Ecorse Road near Taylor Meadows Golf Course. It was originally built in 1991 through a combined effort of the Fire Department, Masco and the Rotary Club. In fact, many members of the Rotary then attended the reopening.

Fire Chief Stephen Portis told the group that renovating and reopening the safety house was one of his priorities when it accepted the chief's position. He is already working with the Taylor School District on scheduling classes to visit later this fall.

Deputy Chief Stan Pochron outlined how important the house is, as well as its related educational programs. He told the group that when the program was active, there was a markedly decline in fire-related crime among youths in the community.

The program is in the final development stages. The department will be reaching out to all elementary schools in the City to schedule tours. During those tours -- aimed at fourth-grade-aged children – will teach fire precautions and how to react in an emergency. The department hopes that the children will help prod entire families toward better fire-related topics, like the importance of smoke detectors.

Playing important roles in the renovation were Home Depot (West/Telegraph Road location), which volunteered labor and materials for the project; Realty Transition; and the building maintenance crew from the City of Taylor.

The Safety House itself in made up of two levels with multiple exits. The bedrooms upstairs have a pair of doors, leading directly to stairs that take them downstairs toward the kitchen. Beds are also located in what would be commonly considered the living room, so that many students can take part in demonstrations simultaneously.

Piping channels smoke both upstairs and downstairs, simulating a real fire.