Staff Report

The Benicia Fire Department has announced dates for its next set of Benicia Emergency Response Team (BERT) classes, according to a newsletter sent out by the city.
A program similar to BERT was founded and implemented by the San Francisco Fire Department in 1990 following the previous year’s Loma Prieta Earthquake, which between $5.6 to $6 billion in damage. The concept was later adopted by other communities, including Benicia. The BERT program features classes taught by Benicia firefighters to make citizens feel more prepared in the event of a disaster.
The class topics are as follows:
* Feb. 5: Disaster preparation and fire safety.
* Feb. 12: Disaster medicine, Family Radio Service radios, light search and rescue.
* Feb. 26: BERT history, disaster psychology and identification photos.
* March 5: Terrorism, BERT shelter in place.
* March 12: Course review and disaster simulation.
* March 24: Saturday Skills Day and completion.

All classes will be held on Monday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Training Room of the Benicia Fire Department, located at 150 Military West. The exception is the final class on March 24, which will be held on a Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Benicia Fire Museum, located at 900 East 2nd St. There will be no class on Feb. 19 in honor of the President’s Day holiday. For more information, call the Fire Department at 746-4275 or email Division Chief David Fein at jfein@ci.benicia.ca.us.

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