While there are no shortage of fun and educational activities for families with children, offering something new and making it a successful business is a notable feat anytime, let alone in a sluggish economy. One company in the Northwest Suburbs has done just that by offering something unavailable anywhere else – a hands-on firehouse experience.

FireZone, 1100 National Parkway in Schaumburg, is a children’s activity center created and operated by firefighters. Kids can explore a fire engine, ambulance and engage in other activities such as raising ladders, putting out a house fire in a scale model diorama and sliding down a fire pole.

“The easiest way to get to kids is to let them have a hands-on experience, and not lecturing to them,” Chris Gantz, co-owner, said. “And that’s what we’ve developed. Kids get fire safety, they get an understanding of a job as a firefighter, and the duties and responsibilities that go with that. But the key is they have fun.”

Gantz, a Skokie firefighter, started the business with Ed Howard, a Glenview firefighter in 2006. They had rented out fire trucks for parades and other events several years prior, and noticed an opportunity to host birthday parties with fire safety activities.

Since opening, the word has spreading fast. Gantz estimates in the first year since moving the operation to Schaumburg from Glenview at the end of 2009, they served about 10,000 children.

Schools, park districts, day care centers and a slew of others have sent groups to the facility. Coupled with birthday parties and drop-in days open to the general public, FireZone has carved out a niche in entertainment and education services that had not existed before. At one of the weekly drop-in days Jan. 21 parents were complimentary.

“It’s a good way to introduce [children] to fire safety,” Alicia Lykins of Elgin, mother of three young children, said. “It’s good to get them familiar with things in case there was a situation where they needed to be rescued so they’re not scared.”

Rebekah Mercuri of Oak Park, mother of two young children, knows the importance of first responders from first-hand experience. On Feb. 5, 2010, while driving in her car, her baby boy stopped breathing. Her three-year-old daughter, Alexa Mercuri, was in the back seat and could sense something was wrong by her mother's tone of voice.

Paramedics arrived within minutes and saved Mercuri's son’s life. The traumatic experience left a lasting impression on her and her daughter, who repeated the story of what happened back to her mother in the following months.

“Until you experience it first-hand you really don’t appreciate what they do,” Mercuri said. “Even if I hear the sound of the sirens in the distance now, I pull over. They need to get to wherever they are going.”

Mercuri said the FireZone, which she was visiting with her children for the first time, educates them about the purpose of firefighters, paramedics and equipment, and it helps them understand the concept and urgency of emergencies.

Mercuri’s friend Angela Houghton of Arlington Heights, mother of four-year-old Brandon Houghton, agreed. In addition to teaching children about fire safety, she added that the FireZone made the experience fun for the kids.

“It’s hard to find activities in the winter,” Houghton said. “You can go to the mall and try to find something to do or you can come here. It’s nice because it provides not only fun value, but education value too for the same money. It’s key to make education fun so kids absorb it faster.”

The 5000-square-foot FireZone is divided into several areas including a lobby, activity area and party room. Marie Chambers of Glendale Heights, mother of twins, found another benefit to the facility.

“It’s good for parents with multiples because it’s a tight area so you won’t lose one,” Chambers said.

Gantz and Howard have plans to expand their business. They continue to rent fire trucks, a relatively common enterprise. But they also established Strike The Box, LLC in 2008 to franchise FireZone. Additionally, they have added a team-building program for teens and adults, based on real firefighting procedures.

“All the stuff that you see at the FireZone in Schaumburg has evolved from some of the smaller activities that we did with the fire trucks,” Gantz said. “The whole premise was that we can host the events, we can do it in a safe, confined environment where we have a little more control. And we can also build grander things for the kids to do, so that way they can really get the most out of their learning experience.”