COLUMBUS --Where there's smoke, there are firefighters - eating chicken and ribs at the third annual appreciation barbeque sponsored by Ohio State University's Office of Housing, Food Services and Event Centers.

For three days this week -- Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (10/10- to 10/12)-- HFSEC staff is firing up the grills and dishing out lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Fawcett Center lawn as a way of saying thank you to several hundred local firefighters and emergency medical technicians who serve the university.

Robert Barnett, director of safety and security for HFSEC, said that the residence halls are frequent users of the services of the Columbus Fire Department, and that most of the time the firefighters and EMS personnel only meet with university students and staff in crisis or negative situations. "We wanted to show the positive aspects of the residence halls and let them know how much we appreciate the excellent service they provide," he said. "This is National Fire Prevention Week, when firefighters are reaching out to the community to teach fire safety, so we thought this would be a good time to turn around and show our appreciation."

Units invited are Firehouses 7, 13, 18, 19 and 25 of the Columbus Division of Fire and their EMS units, and the Upper Arlington Fire Department, which also provides some service to the university. Members of the Ohio State University Police Department and the Ohio State University Department of Transportation and Parking are also guests. The event is spread over three days to allow all shifts to participate.

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