North Vancouver City Fire Department members have come up with a hot new idea for educating people about fire safety, launching a new little library outside the city’s fire hall.
And not content to just build a book box, the firefighters got creative by dreaming up a little library that is a replica of their fire hall. Created by Victoria-based artist Ray Young, the mini fire hall is part of the Little Free Library initiative, a non-profit organization based in the United States where people from the community create free book-sharing boxes to remove barriers to book access.
The fire hall’s library includes books about fire safety alongside other general titles, and the sides of the box have pamphlets about fire prevention including QR codes for easy access. This was a vital part of the project, said Deputy Fire Chief David Owens, adding that they’re hoping the information will help increase fire safety and literacy amidst a concerning trend of increasing home fires and deaths across the province.
“Fire prevention is very important to us,” Owens said. “We’re always trying to look at different ways to do that, so we just really like the concept of a little library where it brings the community together.”
As with other little libraries, people can take a book and replace it with another, Owens said.
“If people are walking by, we encourage them to take a book,” Owens said. “We’re trying to make these materials available to the public, and we hope that we’re going to engage people of all ages to read and learn about fire prevention.”
Since 2018, fire related injuries and deaths have been increasing in youth and older adults across B.C., according to a 2022 report from the office of the fire commissioner.
Fire deaths have increased each year, said Owens. The report found in 2019 there were 28 deaths, 2020 saw 56, 2021 with 59 and 2022 had 86. In 2023 there was a decrease, but there is still cause for concern as home fires are increasing as well, Owens said.
He’s hoping the little library helps reverse those trends.
“[There’s] an alarming number of home fires in the province that we respond to where people don’t have a working smoke alarm, so there is a concerning trend going on at the moment,” he said.
The timing of the library is also linked to Fire Prevention Week, which took place Oct. 6 to 12. This year’s theme was smoke alarms.
Since the opening of the library, Owens said he has seen a lot of response from the community. People can check out the permanent little library at North Vancouver City Fire Department’s fire hall at 165 East 13th St.
Abby Luciano is the Indigenous and civic affairs reporter for the North Shore News. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
