By William R. Mora
Texas State Advocate
On August 4-6, 2009 members of the Leon Valley and Balcones Heights (TX) Fire Departments received the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Courage to Be Safe® presentation from Texas state advocate Willie Mora.
Members of the Leon Valley and Balcones Heights (TX) Fire Departments participate in the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s Courage to Be Safe® Training as part of the Everyone Goes Home® Program.
Thanks are in order for Leon Valley Fire Chief Stan C. Irwin, Assistant Chief Robert Lee, and Balcones Heights Fire Chief Phillip C. Prince for having these classes conducted. Positive feedback was received about the program, including numerous spontaneous discussions of past and recent fatal incidents involving apparatus collisions, wind-driven structure fires, heart attacks and associated fire service safety topics.
Additionally, firefighters received instruction in the class entitled: “Preventing Firefighter Disorientation in Large Enclosed Structures,” which touches on multiple case studies and offers solutions to prevent firefighter disorientation.
The Leon Valley Fire Department can now be proudly added to the list of departments who have attained 100% support of the Brian Hunton National Fire Service Seat Belt Pledge.
The program provided firefighters valuable safety information and stressed that emergency fire service must be delivered with safety in mind. Implementing the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives will ensure that injuries and line-of-duty deaths are prevented in the future.
