The Real Firefighters of L.A. County

Battalion Chief Derek Alkonis directs training for the department, which has just launched "Turnout."

There’s more to a firefighter’s job than adrenalin and firehouse spaghetti, even if the rest of us don’t see it every day. 

There are medical emergencies. There are mandated training sessions on everything from marine firefighting to ladder climbing. There are state and federal safety requirements and on-the-job college courses. Not to mention the need to stay in peak firefighting shape.

Now, the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Training Services Section is pulling back the curtain with Turnout, a lively, video-centric website aimed at educating both firefighters and the communities they serve.

“We have close to 4,000 firefighters and other emergency response personnel all over the county, and we needed to connect them,” says Battalion Chief Derek Alkonis, who directs training for the department and who launched the site last week. “But this is also a way of showing the public what we’re doing around the county. This gives them an insider’s view.”

Written and produced by members of the department, Turnout—named for the tough, yellow gear that firefighters don for battle—offers crisp videos and links on topics from fire readiness to department history.

Here is Firefighter Specialist Jim Golondzinier with a primer on how to tell from the color of a fire’s smoke whether toxic plastic is burning. Here is “Sim Man”, the high-tech mannequin used to train paramedics. Here is Battalion Chief Dennis Breshears offering tips for interval training, firefighter style.

Chief Deputy of Emergency Operations Mike Metro says the site arose from a desire to better engage younger and more tech-savvy firefighters, who weren’t connecting with the department’s existing ink-on-paper, in-house publications.

“You can put out executive action memos all day long, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to grab today’s firefighter,” Metro says. 

A snazzy New York City Fire Department training publication provided some inspiration, he says, but the idea for Turnout really began to gel in December after a $150,000 Productivity Investment Fund grant from the county Quality and Productivity Commission allowed the department to buy high-definition videography equipment and begin filming web videos as part of an online in-service training initiative.

“We were already out there filming instructional pieces, so we figured, how hard would it be to shoot a little extra?” says Alkonis.  “A lot of things compete for firefighters’ attention, on and off-duty, and we thought this might help us connect to them around the county.

“Also, part of our strategic plan is to communicate our value to the public. So why not show how we prep our first responders? And what’s the best way to do that? Well, how about a web page?”

Alkonis and Metro describe the videos on Turnout as “commercials” that engage firefighters and remind them of upcoming training sessions and other items of interest.

“Say we’re doing training on the dangers of stockpiled ammunition in people’s homes,” says Metro. “Well, we can put a video on Turnout and then say, go to [the department’s in-service training site] and check that out.”

But the site also helps firefighters maintain ties in a large and far-flung department, he says, and could operate not only as an education tool, but also as a forum, a suggestion box, a tip sheet and—if firefighters are so inclined—a hobby.

“We have some tremendous talent,” Alkonis says. “None of this was done by contractors—it was all done by fire department people who wanted to do something extra. The designer of the site was a graphic artist when he came on to the fire department. The web master works for our information management division. The individual who does all the film work is a film school grad who has won some awards for it. The managing editor is a screenwriter and worked in Hollywood in production.

“Living in L.A., we have access to some really talented people, and it was that collective talent that led us to try to do something unique.”

On the public front, meanwhile, Metro and Alkonis see the site as one more tool in an ongoing effort to broaden community engagement.

“We’re looking at Facebook pages in our geographic field divisions,” says Metro. “Our community service representatives are looking to engage more.”

The department, he says, is even considering a push into crowdsourcing, with a CPR training initiative and a mobile app that would let the department call upon legions of potential lifesavers who might help keep a victim alive during a wait for paramedics.

“Typically people think of the fire department and have a stereotype, but if they knew more about who we are and what we do, they’d be surprised,” says Alkonis. “We hope to get more personal as we go on with our stories, so the public gets to know our firefighters, and maybe even can track them, like on a reality series.”

Meanwhile, he suggests county residents keep their eyes peeled.

“Right now, we have probably ten videos posted, another 20 in the can and probably ten more that we’re working on.”

In this training video, county firefighters practice battling a marine blaze in the harbor.

Posted 3/27/13