MOORPARK : Safety Program to Help Kids Cope With Fires
The Ventura County Fire Department has been selected as one of 10 in the nation to participate in a $20,000 training program to educate young children about fire safety and to help them deal with fire experiences.
The award from the National Assn. of Fire Protection will pay to send two teachers and one county Fire Department representative to Boston for training in the Learn Not to Burn program, officials said. The award also includes classroom materials for students.
The Fire Department and its program partner, the Moorpark Unified School District, were selected largely because of the county’s history of wildfires, officials said. More than 80,000 acres were scorched locally in 1993.
Since then, the Fire Department has responded to numerous calls from parents of young children who suffered emotional and psychological trauma from the fires, officials said.
The pilot program will be geared toward helping children in preschool through third grade.
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