Fire Suppression Team

Responsibilities

Before the Disaster

1. Take the Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) Fire Suppression class.
2. Maintain a list of the utility shutoff locations and water spigots for all residences in the neighborhood.
3. Organize a walk around the neighborhood, so people learn where shutoff locations and water spigots are.
4. Encourage everyone to have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers (sell batteries to encourage people to change batteries in smoke detectors).
5. Share information from the Fire Suppression class with neighbors. Check out a video from OES and show it at one of the neighborhood meetings.
6. Encourage everyone to have alternative lighting, such as flashlights or lightsticks, kerosene lanterns, and candles.
7. Learn how to use the electric generator in the neighborhood cache, maintain and test it monthly.
8. Maintain gas and oil for the generator.
9. Encourage everyone to keep trees and shrubs trimmed away from their houses.
10. Encourage the city and/or LBL to trim dry grass on the right-of-way at the top of Virginia Street.

After the Disaster

1. Form teams and check the status of utilities. Do they need to be turned off? If so, do so.
2. Identify any power lines that are down and cordon them off. If possible, have people monitor the area.
3. Set up a generator and a schedule for generator maintenance.

In Case of Fire

1. Evacuate people
2. Put out small fires (a small fire is low in intensity, low in heat. and is no larger than a door).
3. In case of large fires, move vehicles away from the blaze, taking care not to block access for emergency vehicles.
4. Turn off utilities.
5. Wet down surrounding area.
6. Close windows of surrounding homes.
7. Take down curtains.
8. Board up windows.

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Recommended CERT classes
Basic Personal Preparedness, Fire Suppression

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