Puppets put fire safety to music

CHAPEL HILL -- Making puppets sing about safety to the tunes of "Day-O" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is not usually on the short list of a firefighter's job duties.

But in Chapel Hill, it is.

A few firefighters, including Capt. Susanna Williams, Assistant Fire Marshal Doug Kelly and firefighter Pat Spencer, have joined the ranks of puppeteers in a new show called "Johnnie Joins the Fire Department," aimed at teaching fire safety to second-graders in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system.

If the firefighters are lucky, the state will help pay for fire departments across North Carolina to perform the show.

"Johnnie Joins the Fire Department" is the brainchild of Deputy Fire Chief Matt Lawrence, who developed the idea when he worked for the Burlington Fire Department.

Lawrence figured that if he could make children laugh and sing along to fire safety messages -- stop, drop and roll; how to call 911; and have a home escape plan -- they might remember what they learn.

When he moved to the Chapel Hill department a year ago, he hooked up with the Chapel Hill Museum. It already had a fire safety program tied to a 1914 town fire truck on permanent display. He showed them a video of one of the shows and got some of his old buddies to perform it live. Chris Bradley, a Chapel Hill fire truck driver, adapted the script for the town's kids.

The N.C. Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals agreed to sponsor the local production costs.

In the show, the 2-foot tall Muppet-like puppets with names such as Lt. Dan and Hector help Johnnie, played by a person, learn fire safety tips through taped songs.

There's the calypso "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" that is turned into "Stay Low," a song about getting on the ground when there's smoke. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" becomes "We Are Safe Tonight."

The group of firefighters and a few museum volunteers who have taken on some puppet roles have been practicing the show in the museum's basement for the past 2 1/2 months.

Now the Chapel Hill Fire Department is hoping state Rep. Verla Insko, a Chapel Hill Democrat, can get them funding to take the show statewide.

She's invited the group to perform for the General Assembly, Kelly said, adding no date has been set.