“Every 15 Minutes” at Valencia High

Firefighters from Battalions 6 and Battalion 22 responded to an “alcohol- related traffic collision,” where four local teens died on scene – thankfully only as a simulation staged to get the attention of students at Valencia High School in the City of Santa Clarita. The popular “Every 15 Minutes” program reminds them of the dangers of drinking and driving, and dramatizes the fact that every 15 minutes a teen is killed in an alcohol-related traffic collision. Students were shaken as the deceased bodies of four of their fellow students were taken away by the County Coroner. One student was arrested and another was seriously injured during the drill. The simulation event was sponsored by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies. In 2006, the City dedicated a portion of its well-known Central Park to a memorial, where teens that have died in traffic incidents involving alcohol and drugs are remembered – sadly, that is 73 teens including the last death in February 2008. Participating in the drill were Fire Captain Gabriel Etcheverry and the crew from Fire Station 126, Fire Captain Joe Kinney and the crew from Fire Station 156, and Fire Fighter Paramedics Ray Nutt and Steve Betteridge from Fire Station 111. Pictured are personnel simulating the extrication of an accident victim. (Story and photo by CSR Stephanie English)