Trailer a welcome fire training tool

Lolita Harper

A smoking new twist on the traditional stop-drop-and-roll routine

is rolling into the city.

Thanks to federal grant funding, the Costa Mesa Fire Department

will be able to buy a public education trailer, designed to simulate

emergency situations and teach people how best to escape them,

officials said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded the city a $34,396

grant for the trailer, with the expectation that the city will pay

the remainder of the $50,000 price tag, said Lynda Jenkins, the city

grant administrator.

The grant award caps nearly a decade-long effort to obtain the

educational tool, Costa Mesa Fire Chief Jim Ellis said. Depending on

the speed at which the federal wheels turn, the city could be using

the new trailer as early as September, Ellis said.

Once the trailer becomes the city’s property, Ellis said he wants

to give it a high profile in the community and use it in conjunction

with emergency preparedness and junior firefighter programs, as well

as other educational seminars. The chief is also willing to share the

trailer with other city departments, such as police or recreation,

for various demonstrations.

“My goal is to keep it out in the community as much as possible

and so it can have farther-reaching aspects than just the Fire

Department,” Ellis said.

From the outside it looks like a travel trailer, Ellis said, and a

miniature house on the inside, complete with a kitchen, bedroom and

dining room. Fire officials will be able to talk about the dangers

around the stove and demonstrate them. Smoke machines also add a

realistic touch, as participants will practice crawling through the

simulated house. The educational fire tool will roll from site to

site to give audiences a hands-on emergency experience.

“It’s going to be like a giant visual aid that will assist us in

further demonstrating what we teach,” Ellis said.

Jenkins said the city competed with 19,500 other fire departments

that wanted a piece of the $360-million federal pie. Costa Mesa

gained funding because it demonstrated a great need for the trailer

in the community, Jenkins said.

Costa Mesa will be the first Orange County city to use such an

educational tool.

“This trailer will specifically target high-risk groups, like

seniors and grade-school children,” Jenkins said.

Mayor Linda Dixon said she was pleased to hear the city was able

to find the necessary funding, given the trailer was a luxury the

council cut from this year’s budget.

When adopting the 2002-03 fiscal year budget, council members

conceded to about $1 million in cuts, which included $50,000 for the

educational trailer.

Dixon lamented the slash, saying the mobile learning center was an

invaluable resource to the community.

“I am very pleased to learn that the Fire Department took the

initiative, wrote the grant and were awarded the funding,” Dixon

said. “Looks like Costa Mesa will have a new educational tool to go

out in the community.”

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.