Public Outreach & Education

Fire Corps is a major component of the Burbank Fire Department's "Ready Burbank" campaign. Fire Corps members educate the public in aspects of disaster preparedness and readiness, helping citizens mitigate worst-case situations to minimize the personal impact of a major event.

Often working with a member of the Burbank Fire Prevention Bureau, volunteers will often use a department vehicle to haul the Emergency Services Support Trailer to events. Setup usually includes information pamphlets, booklets and promotional materials to help keep the lessons fresh.

Volunteers are normally at Civic events such as Burbank on Parade, Fire Service Day, Be-Bop in the Park, National Night Out and Fire Prevention Week. Volunteers may staff other events by request through the Fire Department. Fire Corps makes regular appearances at the Readiness Fairs of NBC, Disney and Warner Brothers Studios. We have also run preparedness booths and demonstrations at privately-sponsored events, such as "Safety Saturday".

Training

Public Outreach and Education training is a three-hour class. It's not required for PubEd, but it is helpful to be CERT-certified. The class covers Fire Corps missions and departmental relations, disaster awareness and preparedness, and personal disaster response. The latter element includes knowledge and speaking points on building personal disaster kits, family escape and communication plans, plus demonstrating gas and electric utility shutoffs.

It is not necessary to be a world-class presenter but it does help to be comfortable with limited public speaking.

The City of Burbank maintains a low-power AM radio station broadcasting on AM 1620. During normal operations, BAM provides general city announcements and information.

In the event of a disaster or major incident, BAM Radio broadcasts Burbank's official updates and public safety messages. Fire Corps members are instructed to tune into BAM Radio for information regarding the situation as well as emergency operations activation, reporting and deployment.