MySafe:LA and Engine Company 76 Teach Fire Safety to 4th Grade Students

Valley View Elementary School is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The students there are like many 4th graders in the City of Los Angeles: diverse backgrounds, multi-cultural, and eager to learn. The arrival of Engine Company 76 was met with enthusiasm as the large Pierce Fire Engine moved slowly onto the parking lot pavement.

Principal Klein made the appropriate introduction and Captain Steven Owens (C-Platoon) made the introductions and began the program. The objective, as with all school presentations, is a one-hour, fast-paced, introduction to family escape planning and basic fire safety.

Watch the Video.

Check Out the Photos.

Classroom:

In the Classroom, a six-minute safety video is shown, in this case detailing the steps in creating and practicing a family escape plan and what to do in the event of fire. It includes Wilshire the Fire Dog, and gives the students some important baseline information on home safety.

Following the video, Captain Owens did a little random testing, asking questions and motivating the children to provide feedback regarding their retention of information. Following the Q&A, Cap then introduced two of his firefighters, Margaret Stewart (88-B), and Firefighter Jason Shutt (76-C). With the vocal encouragement of the class, the two firefighters raced to see who would suit up with their Personal Protective Equipment first. Firefighter Stewart was just seconds faster and both firefighters then crawled among the kids. It's important to see the initial fear on their faces, and to then see that fear turn into query and finally, laughter as they realize the firefighters are safe in their turnouts. Additional questions were asked by the students and then the group was led outside for the School Yard Presentation.

School Yard Safety Stations:

Once outside, the students were split into three groups. While the classroom activities were ongoing, Captain Avina and his firefighters from the LAFD Disaster Preparedness Unit as well as the other firefighters from Seventy-Sixes were setting up three safety stations:

• Fire Extinguisher Drill
• Hose Line Demo
• Personal Protective Gear (PPE) Demo

The students rotated from one station to the next. At each station, firefighters demonstrated the proper procedures relative to the specific station. The Fire Extinguisher station was the most essential in terms of training, but the inclusion of all three helped students enjoy the process, and created a stronger memory foundation relative to the key messages and the fire extinguisher training. The kids also get their photo taken when at one of the stations, and later, they can log onto the MySafe:LA website with their parents or their teacher to retrieve their personal photo.This gives the parents direct exposure to the program and the MySafe:LA Internet environment.

Teaching Materials:

In addition to the demonstrations conducted by the MySafe:LA education team and the members of Seventy-Sixes, the school was presented with a series of Fire and Life Safety Teaching Materials. The overall objective is to teach fire and life safety. As part of that mission, MySafe:LA is committed to incorporating literacy improvement skills, so that students may improve their reading skills at the same time.

MySafe:LA incorporates materials from the Home Safety Council, along with their own branded materials to help teachers communicate these core messages - and to integrate the material into the ongoing curriculum they've designed. Materials delivered include:

• Home Safety Literacy Projuect Teacher's Manual
• Are We Ready Disaster Preparedness Reading Book for Students
• Rashan's Escape Plan Reading Book for Students
• Get Out Alive Reading Book for Students
• MySafe:LA Escape Plan DVD
• MySafe:LA Teaching Tools DVD (includes exercises, posters, and in-class plus take-home materials
• Los Angeles Fire Department Museum & Memorial DVD

MySafe:LA is eager to present the materials in such a way as to empower the teacher to keep his or her expertise in front of the students. The materials can be incorporated in a focused classroom struucture or as part of other parts of the teacher's agenda, including reading or science.  In addition to the materials delivered, the school is given access to the MySafe:LA online learning center and to each child's photograph from the event.

Special Thanks:

For the Valley View Elementary School presentation, we'd like to thank City of Los Angeles Councilmember Tom LaBonge, his Education Deputy Mary Rodriguez; the members of Fire Station 76 (C-Platoon) and Captain Steven Owens; the members of the LAFD Disaster Preparedness Unit under the leadership of Captain Carolos Avina; Community Liason Officer & Battalion Chief Ronnie Villanueva, Fire Chief Doug Barry, and the board of MySafe:LA.

We would also encourage visiting the Los Angeles Fire Department Museum & Memorial, to learn more about the history of the Los Angeles Fire Department, fire safety, and to see first-hand how fires in L.A. have been fought and put out for more than 123 years. Membership to the LAFD Historical Society is very inexpensive and is optional.