CERT Safety “Officer”
An LAFD Incident Safety Officer is a senior member of the Command Team on incidents. Their job is to ensure scene safety by foretelling unsafe scenarios, conditions, and behaviors before they take place. Their job commences the moment they’re assigned as Safety Officer to the stop of the incident clock, including overhaul. They are constantly weighing the risk of the action versus what will be gained by that action.
Walk the concrete halls of the LAFD Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center, a stout monster of a building, and you’ll encounter walls lined with fire incidents captured on camera: networks of hose lines strewn about in the middle of columns of apparatus surrounding buildings as black and white billowy smoke erupt from windows and vents. Daring offensive operations depicting black scarred turnouts, feet from glowing infernos as yellow and orange helmeted figures mount aggressive fire attacks from street level doorways and neighboring rooftops. Scenes […]
LAFD CERT assists Department on Disabilities Meal Distribution
LAFD CERT assists Department on Disabilities Meal Distribution during the Covid-19 pandemic in Los Angeles, CA.
LAFD Chief Terrazas thanks LA CERT volunteers
LAFD Chief Terrazas
Feb. 2020 – LAFD CERT Spotlight – Sally Thompson
The Los Angeles Fire Department CERT Program is proud to introduce Sally Thompson as February’s LAFD CERT Spotlight.
Sally grew up in the San Fernando Valley with her family roots now extending to her beautiful granddaughter. Sally’s incredible work ethic was instilled years ago as she began working as a restaurant server with little surprise, a career in restaurant hospitality is where she remained. Early on in her restaurant career, Sally was given the opportunity to shine as a manager. Leading teams as the general manager of some of the most popular restaurants in the San Fernando Valley and Glendale, California, Sally finally landed at the Daily Grill where she left an 18 Year legacy.
When asked the question of what first brought Sally to CERT, “Little did I know that working in this industry would be akin to CERT. In restaurants, an every week occurrence is slips and falls, […]
LAFD Welcomes Two New CERT Instructors
The Los Angeles Fire Department CERT Program is excited to introduce Firefighter CERT Instructors Joe Santa Maria and Ted Debs to our team! A very Special Thank You to Council Member Bob Blumenfield CD3 and the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office for their supportive actions and collaboration that has increased CERT Training opportunities for the community, with these (2) additional LAFD CERT Instructor positions.
Firefighter Joe Santa Maria is a 19 Year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department with fire suppression experience spanning across Los Angeles. Firefighter Santa Maria was assigned to Fire Station 39 (VanNuys, CA), Fire Station 68 (Mid-City, Los Angeles), (LAFD Fire Station 61 – Miracle Mile (Los Angeles Fire Department)), and finally his last assignment Fire Station 85 (Harbor City, California). Firefighter Santa Maria is Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Certified and is a fluent Spanish speaker. Joe spends […]
LAFD CERT 2019 Year-End Review
We tried to capture all the amazing events and incidents in which our LAFD CERT members were involved. If it was already covered in a previous post, we did not add it here. We thank all of you that gave up so much of your valuable time to help the citizens of Los Angles and assist the men and women of the LAFD! We had wildfires, gas leaks, traffic accidents, wires-down, Call-Out Team Trainings, and Skills Refreshers.The CERT Coordinators were on hand to assist the firefighter instructors when needed for their CERT classes as well as be on hand for the graduations. We thank these wonderful Coordinators for their incredibly selfless dedication, and a huge round of applause for our LAFD CERT Commander, Captain Cody Weireter. Also many thanks for the great leadership of Captain John Ignatczyk, Disaster Preparedness Officer and the special appearances from […]