Feb. 2020 – LAFD CERT Spotlight – Sally Thompson
The Los Angeles Fire Department CERT Program is proud to introduce Sally Thompson as February’s LAFD CERT Spotlight.
Sally grew up in the San Fernando Valley with her family roots now extending to her beautiful granddaughter. Sally’s incredible work ethic was instilled years ago as she began working as a restaurant server with little surprise, a career in restaurant hospitality is where she remained. Early on in her restaurant career, Sally was given the opportunity to shine as a manager. Leading teams as the general manager of some of the most popular restaurants in the San Fernando Valley and Glendale, California, Sally finally landed at the Daily Grill where she left an 18 Year legacy.
When asked the question of what first brought Sally to CERT, “Little did I know that working in this industry would be akin to CERT. In restaurants, an every week occurrence is slips and falls, […]
LAFD Welcomes Two New CERT Instructors
The Los Angeles Fire Department CERT Program is excited to introduce Firefighter CERT Instructors Joe Santa Maria and Ted Debs to our team! A very Special Thank You to Council Member Bob Blumenfield CD3 and the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office for their supportive actions and collaboration that has increased CERT Training opportunities for the community, with these (2) additional LAFD CERT Instructor positions.
Firefighter Joe Santa Maria is a 19 Year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department with fire suppression experience spanning across Los Angeles. Firefighter Santa Maria was assigned to Fire Station 39 (VanNuys, CA), Fire Station 68 (Mid-City, Los Angeles), (LAFD Fire Station 61 – Miracle Mile (Los Angeles Fire Department)), and finally his last assignment Fire Station 85 (Harbor City, California). Firefighter Santa Maria is Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Certified and is a fluent Spanish speaker. Joe spends […]
LAFD CERT 2019 Year-End Review
We tried to capture all the amazing events and incidents in which our LAFD CERT members were involved. If it was already covered in a previous post, we did not add it here. We thank all of you that gave up so much of your valuable time to help the citizens of Los Angles and assist the men and women of the LAFD! We had wildfires, gas leaks, traffic accidents, wires-down, Call-Out Team Trainings, and Skills Refreshers.The CERT Coordinators were on hand to assist the firefighter instructors when needed for their CERT classes as well as be on hand for the graduations. We thank these wonderful Coordinators for their incredibly selfless dedication, and a huge round of applause for our LAFD CERT Commander, Captain Cody Weireter. Also many thanks for the great leadership of Captain John Ignatczyk, Disaster Preparedness Officer and the special appearances from […]
Sept. 2019 – LAFD CERT Spotlight – Kobey Horn
The Los Angeles Fire Department CERT Program is proud to recognize Kobey Horn as September’s LAFD CERT Spotlight.
Kobey Horn, BS, Finance-UCLA and a MBA-UCLA, has a wealth of career experience in Finance and Real Estate. He has been a Banker/Real Estate Loan Officer, Financial Specialist, State of California Department of Savings and Loan Senior VP and Director of Research.
Kobey has served as a Consultant to Financial Institution for Earthquake Recovery Loan Program and Business Recovery Plan; Senior Vice President, Savings and Loan Association; Chambers of Commerce, Membership Development and Interim Executive Director; Public Safety Commissioner, City of La Canada Flintridge (8 years); Manager of Real Estate, Insurance and Securities of large nonprofit organization, including employee safety and Property Inspector.
It should also be mentioned that Kobey is a veteran of the United States Army Reserves holding the rank of Staff Sergeant. Kobey’s long […]
August 2019 – LAFD CERT Spotlight – Kevin Kong
The Los Angeles Fire Department CERT Program is proud to announce Kevin Kong as the August LAFD CERT Spotlight.
Kevin Chang-Kyu Kong hails from Seoul, South Korea where his career as an optometrist spanned 20 years. He immigrated to American 1991, and in 2000 became a US Citizen. Kevin Kong’s volunteer spirit drew him to associate with the Pacific American Volunteer Association (PAVA) in Koreatown. Through them he learned of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) sponsored by the Los Angeles Fire Department. He availed himself of the training in 2010 and hit the ground running! Wherever you findLAFD CERT, you will find Kevin Kong. He is one of our most active volunteers offering his services wherever needed whenever called upon. He participates in every training he can to keep his skills proficient and regardless of the distance, travels across Los Angeles to participate in community functions.
Kevin serves in the LAFD geographic […]
CERT West Bureau Skills Refresher – 7-27-19
The CERT West Bureau held a very successful skills refresher on Saturday, July 27th at Fire Station 59. It was a full house, with participants who graduated from a CERT class last week and as far back as 30 years ago. All were there to practice their skills to be, “Disaster Ready.”
A special THANK YOU to the LAFD Community Risk Reduction Unit’s Captain Silverman and Firefighter-Paramedic Davis for their Hands-Only-CPR Presentation.
Thanks to all that participated!