Our FSH is so well known across our community.  It has become a learning tool and THE public relations tool at the same time.  Giving the FD good exposure to the public, in order to get our message of fire safety out to them.  It really was tremendous timing, as a couple of us had taken our K-2 program and really had it on the move.  Then we got our FSH and it took us to the next level of fire safety education.  It also fit in perfectly with where our Fire Chief was taking our department in terms of being in the community.  That thing has given us a place of trust and standing in our community, that we were just starting to build on.      

Everyone loves the Waterford Fire – Fire Safety House.  This program has entrenched us deeply in our community.  A FSH should be on any departments list of apparatus like a firetruck or a rescue.  Our Scotty FSH has been very durable (I am not saying this because I was asked to.  It is the truth).  It has survived thousands of feet walking, crawling through it.  It still looks great, and functions great. We have had several departments come to view our FSH and ask questions.  It should be at the top of the fire prevention priority list, much like the fire apparatus list in the AFG program.  FEMA and the FP & S grant program should be looking to get these into as many departments as they can. 

Lt. John H. Lyman
Waterford Township Fire Department

We are very happy customers - great after the sale service. Any parts we have needed they get them on the UPS Ground 2 Day service that day… we have people who sign up [to use the Fire Safety House] a year in advance for it to be at their event. It is first come first serve so several times a year it will be at 2 events in one day. It is a great public relations [tool]. Our taxpayers get a free service from county government, and we have several taxpayers call the county office line to say what a great benefit it is to our citizens (customers).

Dan Evatt
County of Abbeville Fire Marshal
Abbeville County Fire Department - Department Head/Risk Manager

“We have three sprinkler/fire safety house combo units in-service, crisscrossing New York State almost daily - from rural areas in the Adirondacks to the urban bustle of midtown Manhattan and we have been very satisfied with how they are holding up to such rigorous use.  The units play a vital role in our efforts to raise the fire safety awareness of all New Yorkers and I can’t imagine doing so without them.”    

Paul D. Martin
Chief, Bureau of Fire Prevention
NYS Office of Fire Prevention & Control

This is the best teaching tool that a department could to teach fire safety to the children. We reach about 2500 kids K-3 each year and the success of the program is obvious with each year when we go to the schools. We also have the weather package which is taught and received well by the senior communities we have in our city. We reach about 800-1000 adults with this program.

I would recommend this teaching tool for any department that is wishing to have a successful fire safety education program. Just remember that funding is required to provide handout materials to confirm the information provided within the safety house.

Roger Bailey
Canton Fire Department

We use our trailer as part of Public Safety Friday events at local elementary schools– where we combine with police, fire, ambulance service and 911 Dispatchers to bring a variety of safety messages to children on a single day. This is very successful and keeps agencies from offering multiple visits to the same school for different age groups. The trailer is often set up for identifying hazards in the living, kitchen and bedroom areas. We also utilize the trailer during open house and annual safety expo events. We have also used the trailer to help developmentally delayed adults learn basic fire safety techniques for independent living programs. Fire Corps or fire prevention volunteers are the best way to supplement a safety program. Without these resources, we would not be able to utilize this amazing piece of equipment!

Brenda Emrick
Costa Mesa Fire Department
Community Education Specialist

“It’s almost unheard of that a sheriff’s department of our size (130 sworn officers) would have a piece of equipment like our command post. It has made us the envy of all the law enforcement agencies around us. We used it extensively during the sniper hunt (in 2002). It was detailed as a central command post for 40 law enforcement personnel and it became our communications center. It was great having a vehicle with everything we needed. The unit served us well.” 

Captain Michael S. Timm,
Spotsylvania County, VA Sheriff’s Office,
Patrol Operations Division

It provides a visual and physical tool that hits all the senses as would be in a true emergency. It is in real time so the target audience is aware of their role in helping themselves as well as responders. It is described as the fun way to learn how to handle these situations. It is mobile and we can take it to them rather than them coming to us. It has been told to us that it makes them feel better to know that we care enough to even do this program. 

Pete Sanders, Sgt.
Johnson City Fire Dept

“Our history with the [Mobile Concepts] Scotty Fire Houses go back to Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy, where we were the first to bring this potentially life saving public education resource to an overseas Navy location.  Our first trailer was designed specifically for an environment that would require transporting on narrow congested roads, so we worked closely with the designers to ensure we had all the needed features in a smaller package.  This unit was a great success as we provided public education to our Navy community and the broader community at large bringing this same great training to our Italian hosts.  

It was only natural that upon taking the Fire Chief's at Naval Air Station Corpus Christ, Texas that I would again team up with Scotty to ensure we were providing the best possible public education to our community.  On this trailer, Assistant Chief Mark Weil took the lead on identifying needed features.  Living in "Hurricane Country" it was decided that it would be highly beneficial to have the severe weather package to better prepare people not only for fires, but to hazards associated with severe weather.  Over 7000 children and adults have been through our trailer since we took delivery just in time for Fire Prevention Week in 2007.  The trailer is an integral part of our community outreach program as we team with the City of Corpus Christi Fire Department, the Corpus Christi and Flour Bluff Independent School Districts, Corpus Christi International Airport, the National Weather Service Office and other local civic groups. ” 

John T. Morris,
CIV NASCC Fire Chief  Corpus Christi, TX

“The vehicle is very well received. Communities want it again and again.”

Sgt. Pat Hirsch,
Allegheny County, PA Sheriff’s Office

“The Community Safety House is a great tool to break the ice with residents. We even softened our officers’ uniforms and put them in casual polo shirts.”  

Sgt. Chris Cowan,
Richland County, SC, Sheriff’s Department

“Our Community Safety House has been used to photograph and fingerprint over 1,000 kids. We also use it to teach special needs’ students about using the 9-1-1 system.” 

Officer Tom Vannini,
Torrington, CT, Police Department, Community Relations

Fire Safety House Newest Resource for Fire Safety, Prevention and Education. 
Imagine you are awakened suddenly in the middle of the night by the smell of smoke in your house.  You wake your spouse, get up, and run out of the bedroom into the hall toward your children's rooms... Read the City of McAllen Grant News and Views.

"We thought you might want to read or show our newsletter"

Lt. Rene Alaniz
McAllen, TX
Fire Dept, Public Education /Information

“The trailer (fire safety house) is a great tool we use in the community as well as the Schools. Last year we attended over a dozen displays at Township businesses and events as well as the school programs. We had contact with over 1000 people using the trailer at these events. In the schools we use the trailer during fire prevention week and Safety Town as well as spending a week with the 4th & 5th grade classes in the spring for Tornado Awareness using the WeatherSmart package. Aside from all we use the trailer for, we also loan the trailer to neighboring departments for events in their communities.”

Keith J. Eastman,
Fire Marshal Perkins Township Fire Dept.

“We have used our fire safety trailer for all ages and have found it has been one of the best tools to use for fire and life safety education programs no matter what age. We use it to educate smaller children on how to stay safe around the stove and in the kitchen. We also use it to educate teens and college students about how dangerous a smoke filled room is and how hard it is to escape a burning building. They also wear "drunk goggles" to demonstrate the effect alcohol has when trying to escape a burning building.  We also use it to talk with parents and senior citizens about Exit Drills and the importance of planning ahead.  And during the year we use the trailer to demonstrate weather hazards with the weather package that came with the trailer. This has been used with scouting groups and school children. Our trailer was purchased with the Sprinkler room and this has been used at Home and Garden Shows to show the benefits of residential sprinklers.”

Lt. Wanda G. Willis
Fire Prevention Specialist
Harrisonburg Fire Dept.
Coordinator Central Shenandoah Valley Safe Kids

 “It has helped us bring home the problems that can be found in the home to the younger set. They in turn take the message home and talk about them. We found out that once the kids have gone through the Trailer, they are excited and want to go through again. It has been an interesting experience when ones who have gone through the trailer at one time or another tell us how much they have learned.”

Homer Johns
McLean Volunteer Fire Department
Past Chief/Trailer Coordinator

“The program has allowed us to combine public education media programs such as DVDs with a hands-on skills practice to reinforce what was already learned in the classroom setting. The skills practice is conducted in a more realistic environment, rather than simulated in a school classroom. Participants are exposed to simulated smoke that reduces visibility, actual smoke detectors sounding, feeling a bedroom door that is really hot, and then crawling through a window. These components cannot be comparably replicated in other environments.”

Joseph P. Madzelan,
Deputy Chief,
Manchester Township Department of Fire Services

“With all the AV equipment and additional add ons that the safety trailer has, we are able to teach fire safety lessons in the cognitive domain and demonstrate with the rest of the add ons for the visual learner.”

Lt. Rene Alaniz,
Public Education/Information Officer,
McAllen Fire Department