This Band Is Hot on Fire Safety : The South Bay Firefighters Band plays music with a message for schoolchildren.

‘If you run with your clothes on fire, the flames will just get higher and higher . . . ‘ --From ‘Stop, Drop and Roll,’ a song performed by the South Bay Firefighters Band.

For Torrance firefighter Jim Swing, it seemed only natural that he combine a passion for music with getting the message out about fire prevention.

Swing--how’s that for a musician’s name?--had played at nightclubs throughout Southern California before becoming a firefighter; he formed the South Bay Firefighters Band two years ago, after he was named the Torrance Fire Department’s public education officer.

“I thought we could utilize music to teach fire safety and educate and entertain,” Swing recalled. “I thought it could be fun.”

Today, the three-member band is educating and entertaining children across Los Angeles. The band encourages audience participation and is being hailed by educators and fire chiefs alike.

At a recent gig at Joseph Arnold Elementary School in Torrance, children listened to songs whose subjects ranged from smoke detectors (“He’s your best protector, he’s your smoke detector . . . “) to dialing 911 (“9-1-1 in an emergency, 9-1-1 just as quick as can be . . . “).

It has made for an effective and engaging teaching strategy. Janice Schultz, principal at Joseph Arnold Elementary, said her students were more likely to remember fire prevention tips because of the performance.

Schultz did her part in the show, too, donning a foam smoke detector costume along with two students. While the band played the smoke detector song, Schultz and the students bobbed up and down and blew whistles, mimicking fire alarms.

“It was very entertaining,” Schultz said. “I think (the children) got a lot out of it. The messages were pretty succinct and they got the children to repeat them. I’ve seen other fire prevention programs in other districts I’ve worked for. This is by far the most successful.”

The students’ interest was further kindled by Sparky, the department’s canine mascot (played in costume by South High School student Libby Rosinski). Sparky roamed from aisle to aisle, dancing with students or hauling them on stage.

The shtick, however, underscored the serious message of fire prevention.

“The most fulfilling thing is seeing the kids respond,” said Matt Johnson, the group’s bass guitarist and a firefighter in Redondo Beach. “You can see the message getting through.”

The prospect of such breakthroughs, Johnson said, are what prompted him to take part in the firefighters’ band. He was already active in two Orange County rock bands when Swing recruited him.

Sporting a quarter-inch haircut and a wisp of a ponytail, Johnson, 37, fits the image of a hard-rock musician and has been performing since he was 14. He is still active in his other bands but said playing fire safety tunes has added significance.

“Music builds self-confidence and creativity,” Johnson said. “As far as teaching fire safety, I can tell it’s a way that gets kids’ attention. It’s an unlimited thing as far as ideas and teaching. You can talk about drug abuse and water safety and pretty soon you have a kid humming along a song. It could be a way to influence kids to make the right decision.”

Johnson does not get paid for performing with the band, although Swing and drummer Bob Maag, also a Torrance firefighter, are allowed by the Torrance Fire Department to work on city time for performances in Torrance.

“To me, it’s more rewarding than if I was getting paid,” Johnson said. “Some of the kids have told me they want to play music and, of course, all of them say they want to be firemen.”

Swing also recruited Maag, who had not played in a band since high school in the late 1960s. Maag said he had to be persuaded to buy a drum set. Nevertheless, he said, he enjoyed being back in front of an audience, albeit in elementary school cafeterias.

Besides Torrance, the South Bay Firefighters Band has performed at schools in Gardena, Hawthorne, South-Central Los Angeles and at special events at UCLA and the Santa Monica Pier.

While the lyrics for their music are borrowed from various sources, the band members largely compose their own tunes. The music ranges from classic rock to country to rap. Their message would not get through, they say, if students found the music, well, gnarly.

“We’ve tried to do things we find interesting musically and keep in mind what young people find interesting in music,” said Swing, whose own background is in country and rock music.

Swing, 44, said he often played before rough crowds during his nightclub days.

“I consider being a firefighter the second most dangerous job I’ve had,” he quipped.

When audiences rush the stage nowadays, he said, it’s only to dance with Sparky.