KANNAPOLIS — “Fire doesn’t care. Fire will take everything you’ve got and it’ll take your life if you’re not careful with it.”

Those are the words of Kannapolis Residential Safety Coordinator Lee Goodman. Goodman has been involved in the fire service since the 1960s and he spends his days teaching residents on how to prevent fires at home. 

Goodman is also a member of the Firefighters’ Burned Children Fund chapter in Kannapolis, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that aids people of all ages in the Kannapolis district who are injured in a fire. 

“If someone is burned in a fire and we have to fly them to either Winston-Salem or Chapel Hill to the burn center, we provide the family with some funding until larger agencies can come in and help out more,” Goodman said. “It depends on the severity as to when we start coming in and offering assistance, but the main thing is if you’re going to have to be treated for a burn at one of the facilities then you’re definitely on our radar.”

Outside of direct contributions, Goodman said their main source funding comes from reselling aluminum cans that people donate at designated trailers within Kannapolis. They then take that money and put it on a debit card to give to families to buy medical supplies or gas to go to and from the burn centers. 

“We’re not looking to have a big bank account. We’re just looking to have enough to support and hope that we don’t have burn victims, but we want to have the funds available in case something does happen,” Goodman said. 

Besides monetary backing, the fund focuses on educating the public on best practices to avert fires before they occur. 

“We’re trying to get the word out to think about safety at home and if we can prevent that, then that’s a good thing,” Goodman said.  

Thankfully, Goodman said they did not have any “burn situations” in 2023. 

“We’re attributing the fact that there’s been more emphasis being placed on home safety, training people, making them aware of the smoke alarms,” Goodman said. 

The fund’s Kannapolis chapter currently has six members and they are hoping to add more in the future. Their small size does not allow them to put on large events, but the fund is planning on buying two new trailers to place at Kannapolis Fire Stations 2 and 3. 

After the fund sends money to those harmed in a fire, their work isn’t done yet. Even once person’s wounds are healed, it’s important for members to make sure that they can fully  recover from what happened to them. 

“We still try to remain in communication with them to see how they’re doing both physically and mentally because a fire can be a traumatic thing to go through,” Goodman said.