Southern California Fire Prevention Officers
PUBLIC EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes – 6/8/04
Rancho Cucamonga Fire Department
PRESENT:
Brenda Emrick -Downey Fire Department
Jim Powderly- La Habra Heights Fire Department
Kelley Larson- Rancho Cucamonga Fire Department
Gail Schulte-Riverside City Fire Department
Larry Henderson- Riverside County Office
of Education
Penni Overstreet-Murphy -San Bernardino
County Fire Department
Maria Segovia -San Bernardino County Fire
Department
Candie Zamora -San Bernardino County Fire
Department
WELCOME:
Battalion Chief/Fire Marshal Mike Bell welcomed the group to the Rancho Cucamonga Fire Department.
PROGRAM:
This was a very informal meeting to provide a forum for idea sharing from participating departments.
BUSINESS MEETING:
- The California Juvenile Firesetter Coalition is a newly formed nonprofit group. The Board members are establishing an infrastructure for the organization before it is widely advertised. They will introduce themselves to organizations in Northern California before the next general membership meeting. The next general membership meeting is scheduled for July 22nd and will be held at the Hodgekins Training Center in Los Angeles. This group regularly meets the 4th Thursday of the month at 10:30 a.m.
- Penni has been assisting the Orange County committee for "Newspapers in Education." The Orange County Register will have a special edition, 16-page insert for their regular publication on Wednesday, October 6th (during Fire Prevention Week). She is also looking for sponsors to cover the cost for a similar insert in the San Bernardino Sun, which will total approximately $20,000 - $30,000.
- The San Bernardino County Drowning Prevention Network Conference was held in April and included a media event that drew attention from local media in Palm Springs. The Inland Empire SAFE KIDS Coalition held a similar media event last week in which they staged a mock drowning.
Roundtable:
- Brenda Emrick (Downey) has been trying to remain optimistic while the future of her position has been questionable. It looks as though she will be able to keep her position for the next fiscal year, but will get confirmation next Friday. In the meantime, emergency preparedness duties have been keeping her busy. She hosted an Emergency Preparedness Expo on April 17th, but unfortunately rainy weather made the event difficult. For Fire Service Day they teamed up with the Community Services Dept. to host Kids Day where approximately 15,000 people were in attendance. Brenda’s also been very busy with CERT and completed the Train-The-Trainer Course. She has approached the Police Chief about partnering for National Night Out but hasn’t received his blessing yet for the program. Brenda was generous enough to bring several classroom kits of the Red E. Fox 911 Educational Program to share with the group.
- Jim Powderly (La Habra Heights) hosted an Emergency Preparedness Fair in May, which was a big success. He’s been fortunate to have a couple of interns assisting him with Public Education activities since he’s been bogged down with Weed Abatement duties. He will be hosting our next meeting which will include a program from the Genesis Foundation focusing on hording and packrat conditions.
- Larry Hernandez (Riverside County Office of Education) has been undergoing some reorganization in his department, which may include a lateral transfer for him. He has been presenting information on disaster preparedness for childcare professionals. With a grant for CPR and First Aid, he has trained over 600 folks. Larry has been giving out kits to newly licensed childcare providers, which also gives them an opportunity for a free home inspection. Using his Disaster Dan Puppet Show, Larry has taught over 100 kids in the last month. His newest project has been assembling Childcare Comfort Kits that include a stuffed animal, drawing pad, crayons and Smokey Bear stickers.
- Penni Overstreet-Murphy (San Bernardino County Fire) has been very busy with several Fairs during the month of May (the San Bernardino County Fair in Victorville and the Orange Show). Her newly acquired Safety Trailer has been at events almost every weekend thanks to the help of her assistants Maria and Candie who have been staffing these events. Ssecurity bars have been added to the window in the bedroom for an additional safety message. Working with the household hazard waste department they have introduced a great visual display for poison prevention and awareness. Small jars are filled with a substance and ask parents to identify whether is a hazardous or harmless household product. (For example, Gatorade vs. Lysol; Powdered milk vs. laundry detergent; honey vs. motor oil) This is a great visual in which parents can recognize the dangers of common poisons found around the house and how easily they can be mistaken for harmless products. Penni also mentioned that she is working with San Bernardino City to institute Risk Watch in an after school program.
- Gail Schulte (Riverside City) told the group of her experience in trying to partner with Lowe’s and the Home Safety Council. She informed the group that free smoke alarms are available through this website. Although the Home Safety Council is partnered with Lowe’s, the smoke alarms cannot be obtained from your local Lowe’s retail store. The request must be made through the Home Safety Council website. Gail is also partnering with the Riverside County Office of Education and Head Start groups to get Risk Watch started.
- Kelley Larson (Rancho Cucamonga) discussed the creation of a local chapter of the Fire Safe Council within the City. The Fire Safe Council is a community based organization that partners with the local fire department and other businesses or organizations within the City to help promote wildfire awareness and prevention measures. The volunteer group is a great resource for helping promote public education messages throughout the community. Kelley has been keeping very busy with emergency preparedness including the creation of the state required Hazard Mitigation Plan.
NEXT MEETING:
The next meeting will be held on July 13th hosted La Habra Heights Fire Department. Jim Powderly sent the attached flyer about the location: Hacienda Golf Club * 718 East Road in La Habra Heights with the topic of Obsessive Compulsive Hoarding Disorder.