 | | | Duncan Seibert in front of the new trailer. Photo Cathy Dausman | | | | | | Duncan Seibert was like a kid in a candy store, only this store had wheels and a trailer hitch.
Seibert, program manager for Lamorinda Community Emergency Response Team was showing off Lamorinda CERT's newest acquisition - a six-foot-wide by eight-foot-tall 14-foot long storage unit on wheels designed to tow all the gear associated with nine weeks of hands-on emergency preparedness training.
Previously that gear was housed in a storage container and transferred weekly to CERT instructor's vans or trucks, and carted to various classroom locations. Inevitably, Seibert explained with a shrug "we'd forget something." No more.
Designed in April, custom built in Oregon and purchased by the Lamorinda CERT Foundation for $4,100, it was then donated to the Moraga-Orinda Fire District (which owns and insures all CERT assets) and delivered in July.
"It came with the (interior plywood) walls," Seibert said. Exterior trailer graphics are of Lamorinda CERT and MOFD. Seibert installed electrical wiring and shelving inside and mounted a 16-watt solar panel to the roof. There was just one final hitch in the road to local ownership - the fire department would not accept the trailer until CERT found a parking spot.
Saint Mary's College offered space. SMC Chief of Public Safety Adan Tejada explained that "hosting the CERT trailer is just another part of an ongoing tradition of cooperation between Saint Mary's College and the Lamorinda emergency preparedness network. We have conducted numerous joint exercises and participated in joint training. Having accessible resources placed strategically in the region only enhances all of our emergency operations," Tejada said.
"I can't thank Saint Mary's College enough for this (parking space)," Seibert said, although he expects to reduce his indebtedness by teaching a class in fire safety to SMC staff. This is the third trailer for Lamorinda CERT.
CERT's Volunteer Reception Center trailer is stored at MOFD Station 41 on Moraga Way. A recently purchased trailer holding shelter supplies donated by Red Cross is also at Station 41, but construction work planned for that site precludes parking a third trailer there, Seibert said. The new training trailer replaces a small original CERT trailer, which was donated by the Moraga Police Department.
The new training trailer will be used to tow gear to the fall CERT basic training classes starting Sept. 14 in Orinda. To take the class go online to https://lamorindacert.org/training/classes/.
|
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA