CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina University construction management students planned and built four shelters this fall for Project FIRE, which gives firewood to low-income, elderly Jackson County residents who rely on it for heat.
“We strive to provide hardwoods that are as dry as possible, but that is difficult without shelters,” said Matt Broomell, coordinator of Project FIRE with the Jackson County Department on Aging. “These shelters will allow us to provide a better-quality product to seniors that is easier to light and burns cleaner and hotter.”
FIRE, which stands for Fuel Intervention for Rural Elderly, is a Jackson County-run project made possible with support from partners including Cullowhee United Methodist Church. Each year in August, wood starts showing up in the parking lot at CUMC, and more than 200 volunteers, many of whom are WCU students, help cut, split and deliver the firewood through fall and winter.
Broomell said he and the leadership at CUMC had been discussing firewood shelters when Chris Cox, assistant professor of construction management with the College of Engineering and Technology, reached out to explore ideas for student projects. In a service-learning designated construction project management course that Cox teaches, students apply the construction management skills they are learning to projects that make a difference in the community.
“These projects offer real-world experiences that are an important part of their education,” said Cox. “If you work in construction management, you can make a real impact, and students experience that firsthand in this course.”
This fall, students reviewed the Project FIRE needs and developed detailed proposals and plans to construct four portable firewood shelters, each capable of holding 2.5 cords of firewood, on a narrow piece of property along the CUMC parking lot.
“We had to figure out all the logistics and how to manage it with parking – getting everything in without affecting parking or people bringing their kids to school or coming in and out of the church,” said Reece Penland, senior construction management major from Hayesville. “Once we got our plan down, we had to pick a good design that we could build.”
After receiving approval from project leaders and property owners, more than a dozen students over the course of a week helped with construction. They coordinated the delivery to the WCU Construction Materials and Methods Laboratory of materials donated by Brown Haven Homes. They built part of the sheds in the lab before completing installation and construction at the CUMC site. For the footings, they used blocks recycled from a former gas station.
“We learn to look around for opportunities and solutions,” said Cox.
Adam Orr, a senior construction management student from Sylva, said it was great to be part of the project and see what they learn in class “turn into what we’re doing with our hands to help the community.”
Broomell expressed gratitude for the support from WCU and donated materials from Brown Haven Homes, saving the county and church thousands of dollars. The Rev. Mitchell Boughman, pastor of Cullowhee UMC, added the savings also means that a recent grant from another project partner, the Alliance for Green Heat, can be applied to a future project: construction of a pole barn.
“This idea came from the students in the construction management class and struck us as a worthwhile project, as it would give us the ability to split wood rain or shine,” Boughman said.
Seeing the project and partners come together was doubly meaningful for Kyler Brooks, a construction leader for Sylva Brown Haven Homes and a 2020 graduate of WCU’s construction management program.
“I am very proud that Brown Haven Homes was able to donate the materials to my alma mater so the faculty could use them to teach the upcoming construction leaders and project managers how to frame structures as they once taught me,” said Brooks.
To learn more about the WCU Construction Management Program, visit cm.wcu.edu.
- Western Carolina University release
