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Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Citizen patrols to watch over city of Simi Valley [Source: Ventura County Star] By Roberta Freeman A volunteer citizens patrol will soon be keeping a watchful eye on Simi Valley streets, helping police defend the title of America's safest city. The City Council approved establishing a Citizens On Patrol program for the Simi Valley Police Department at Monday night's meeting. The program has long been on the wish list of Councilman Paul Miller and was one of his recent campaign promises. A former Simi Valley police chief, Miller disputes the notion of Simi Valley as a "safe city." "We are not a safe city, we just have less crime than everywhere else," Miller said. "But we can always do more." Police Chief Randy Adams said the department hopes to launch the program before the holidays; however, the amount of planning to be done might delay the start. The volunteer patrol participants are expected to provide a number of services to the community, including vacation checks, checking on shut-ins and doing crime prevention security checks. "The tasks still have to be hammered out and assigned. We want to be really cautious and not put them in any kind of risky situation," department spokesman Lt. Rex Jones said. The Police Department estimates the first-year cost of the program at $13,600. Of that, $5,000 would be come from the city and $8,600 from the Simi Valley Police Foundation. Ongoing costs are estimated at $6,000 per year. The long-term goal, Miller said, is that eventually the foundation will underwrite the cost of the citizens patrol. The Police Department proposes starting with six specially trained volunteers who will wear white shirts with "Citizens On Patrol" identifiers and black pants. They will not carry weapons. Alicia Pearce, community services specialist and volunteer coordinator for the Police Department, said to qualify for the program, citizens must be a graduate of the Citizens Academy, which is offered about twice a year. The 12-week program provides participants with an in-depth look at the functions of all segments of the Police Department and its relationship with the community and the court system. The most recent class graduated Monday night. The next academy is tentatively set March 13 through the end of May. For details, call Pearce at 583-6927. Monday, November 18, 2002
Track fire department on Web [Source: Ventura County Star] County calls posted as they come By Dani Dodge When that red firetruck goes screaming past your house, you no longer have to wonder where it's headed. Just turn on your computer. The Ventura County Fire Department has quietly added a feature to its Web site that allows the public to see the department's fire and emergency calls as they roll in. "We're hoping the public will use it," said Deputy Fire Chief Dave Festerling. "Of the values at risk when we have a large incident is the psychological welfare of the citizens. For them to get a little more information is helpful." The California Highway Patrol has had a similar Web site for several years, but this is the first local fire department to go online with the as-it's-happening information. To see where firefighters are headed minute-by-minute, go to the department's Web site at fire.countyofventura.org/and click on "fireline." Festerling said the department first became aware of other fire departments that put emergency calls online just before Y2K -- Jan. 1, 2000. That night, Ventura County firefighters tuned into East Coast fire departments on the Web to check whether mayhem was breaking out. It wasn't. "It was informative because we realized we wouldn't get a lot of calls or problems," Festerling said. "It gave us a three-hour head start." Then recently, a radio reporter, who often goes to the scenes of car accidents and fires, asked the Ventura County department to do the same thing so he didn't have to call the dispatchers every few minutes. It made sense, Festerling said. Then, it was simply a matter of programmers figuring out how to translate the calls into Web language, and for the dispatchers to learn to put the calls on the Web as they dispatch the fire trucks and ambulances. More...
Child with matches cause of Simi house fire [Source: Ventura County Star; Photo: Freq Of Nature] Child to get counseling; two of family's cats die By Dani Dodge  A child's fascination with fire badly damaged a family's Simi Valley home and killed two of its Siamese cats. Ventura County fire investigators revealed Friday that a child playing with matches had started the fire Thursday night that caused $160,000 worth of damage at a Chesterton Street home. "We will advise the parents that the child be counseled," said Sandi Wells, the department's chief information officer. "We have a very positive program called the Juvenile Firesetter Program and it's designed by age group to teach kids, in a positive way, what fire can do, including what it can do to a person." When the fire began Thursday night, three children ages 2 to 13 were home alone. Their parents were out for the evening. The fire started in the family room of the $300,000 house. When the oldest child realized what had happened, the teen herded the other children out of the burning house and to a neighbor's home, Wells said. That neighbor called 911 just before 8 p.m., and then rushed to the burning house to rescue the family dog, a fluffy black chow, and her puppies. Firefighters were quickly on scene and continued the rescue of animals. "They weren't only fighting the fire, but looking for any type of life," Wells said. The firefighters had to fight to save the chow's life because the protective mother kept trying to get back into the home to check on her pups, Wells said. Firefighters eventually put her in an unaffected room of the home. Firefighters also rescued a cat and a cockatiel. It was originally reported that neighbors had saved all the animals. No people were injured in the fire or the firefighting effort, Wells said. The American Red Cross provided housing for the family and arranged for the pets to stay with the Humane Society, said Cecilia Cuevas, the spokeswoman for the American Red Cross of Ventura County. She said the Red Cross would continue to help the family with support and assistance. In addition to gutting the family room of the 2,800-square-foot home, the fire destroyed a pool table and computer equipment. The fire also burned through the roof. Surrounding rooms were damaged by the smoke. The family did have homeowners insurance, Wells said. Sunday, November 17, 2002
Mexican Air Flight 137 Emergency Landing at LAX [Source: Brian (SoCalScan)]  I was getting ready to call it a night when the Crash Phone rang. Even before the sentence is complete, you can always sense something in the tone of the controller's voice. By now, most of you are familiar with the LAX Flight tracking website at: http://www4.passur.com/lax.html If you have a moment, take visit there and set the time for 11-17-02 0016 Hours and then follow a 757 that had things go to he** in a handbasket on departure. All ended up well though, on |