SIMI VALLEY : Residents Get Crash Course in Preparedness

It was trial by fire, literally, for about two dozen Simi Valley residents who got a chance to battle real flames Saturday during a crash course in emergency preparedness.

Authorities used a fake inferno and other mock calamities to provide hands-on training to Simi Valley residents in anticipation of the next killer quake or other major disaster.

Terri Willson was the first resident to fight the blaze--a trough filled with diesel fuel ignited by the county Fire Department. Willson inched up to the blaze with a large fire extinguisher. And as soon as she felt heat, the 32-year-old homemaker blasted the flames with thick plumes of white powder.

The blaze vanished, and like snow, the fire retardant blanketed a patch of parking lot at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints off Tapo Canyon Road.

“It’s that simple,” said Stephen Blocksage, a member of Simi Valley’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). “Anybody else?”

Several other residents took Blocksage up on the offer, but Willson didn’t exactly call the experience fun.

“You’re nervous,” Willson said. “You’re dealing with live fire.”

Yet Willson, like many residents who turned out for the training, said the session was vital to learn how to become better prepared for accidents and disasters.

“We went through the last quake and I want to be prepared for the next one,” Willson said. “I thought my reaction to that one was particularly slow.”

Participants lugged around a working fire hose. They lifted a 2,000-pound concrete slab off a truck flatbed. And they collected disaster preparedness tips from fire and other public safety officials.

All this was an effort by authorities to recruit residents for Simi Valley’s CERT program.

“Simi Valley was trashed and [the Northridge quake] wasn’t even a bad earthquake,” said Capt. Chris Johnston of the county Fire Department. “It is going to be up to individuals and community members to help. We won’t be able to handle all the calls” during a major disaster.

Many, such as Kirsten Thatcher, took the appeal for help to heart. The 31-year-old mother hopped onto a flatbed truck and practiced lifting the 2,000-pound concrete slab off an invisible victim, using pry bars and 2-by-4s as fulcrums.

“The men aren’t always going to be around,” said Thatcher, describing a fictional disaster situation. “You can’t always wait for Daddy to get home.”

Public safety officials will hold their hands-on training sessions at three other Simi Valley sites to drum up volunteers for CERT classes, where individuals learn first aid, fire control, search and rescue and other skills.

For more information, call 583-6982.