Teenagers spent this afternoon fighting flames at Christopher High School as part of a training exercise for Gilroy’s first teen Community Emergency Response Team course.
The 26 teenage students battled wastebasket-sized flames with fire extinguishers as part of a nine-unit course on disaster preparedness, which trains them to respond to earthquakes, wildfires and floods.
At Christopher High School, students practiced putting out flames at least a foot tall, using fire extinguishers, according to Roy Shackel, fire captain and coordinator for the Office of Emergency Services that oversees the CERT program.
This particular CERT program is geared for students ranging from 16 to 18-years-old and is compressed into three days, meaning the students go through 22.5 hours of training in just 72 hours. The course is free and certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The work with fire extinguishers started at 10:30 a.m. and continued until about 1 p.m. today, April 8, according to Colin Tanner, Gilroy CERT leader.
A Gilroy Fire Department truck parked near the school ASB office held a collection of fire extinguishers at noon.
“What I like about it is that it can involve the entire community, and everyone is welcome to join,” Tanner said, as he reflected on the CERT course.
More information
For more information, go to gilroycert.com.
