Pasadena Firefighters Are in the Pink!

Pasadena firefighters participated in a photo opportunity in front of the Rose Bowl Stadium this morning, followed by a walk around the 3.3-mile Rose Bowl Loop.

They traded their Pasadena Fire Department uniform shirts for pink t-shirts to help raise awareness of breast cancer, women's cancer research and the benefits of exercise for cancer prevention.


Pasadena City Councilman Victor Gordo and his field representative Vannia De La Cuba donned the pink shirts as well!


Victor was among the speakers at the event...


And Vannia did an on-camera interview with Azteca TV (channel 26).


Purchase your very own t-shirt for just $20 at Fire Station 33, 515 N. Lake Ave., or at pasadenagoespink.com. All proceeds will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

They even come in children's sizes, although apparently not small enough for Pasadena's youngest future firefighter!

Everybody Loves a Big Red Fire Truck!

On Saturday a new ladder truck was dedicated at Fire Station 32, followed by a tour and celebration.

Yours truly with Grant Derderian (kid extraordinaire) and Beverly White (local resident and KNBC-TV reporter):


Grant's mom Lisa Derderian, Pasadena Fire Department's emergency management coordinator:


You should know by now that every time I mention Lisa in this blog, I have to bring up our bitter feud.

Deep cleansing breaths. OK, moving on...

There were families galore, with lots of children:






They queued up for a chance to climb aboard the ladder truck:







Firefighters explained the truck and its contents to visitors:



Fire Chief Dennis Downs chatted with guests:




Ladders:



What a grand afternoon!

Click here for a reminder of the last time fire apparatus was dedicated.

Drop by any Pasadena fire station one of these days and say hello to the men and women who help keep us safe every day!

They Got Pinned

When there are promotions of sworn personnel in the Pasadena Fire Department, ceremonial badge-pinnings are part of the well-deserved pomp and circumstance.

In the photo above, Kevin Costa, a 14-year veteran of the department, receives his new badge from his wife and mother at Fire Station 34. He was promoted from battalion chief to deputy fire chief for operations.

You can see the badge in all its glory in this photo (that's Pasadena Fire Chief Dennis Downs behind him):


Robert Sepulveda, a seven-year veteran, was promoted from firefighter to fire engineer and pinned by his wife and daughter:



Also promoted was Seaton King, who rose from fire captain to battalion chief. Seaton has been with the department for 20 years.

Congratulations to all three!

In the Pink!

A week ago I blogged about a photo opportunity with firefighters in pink shirts.

On Monday night, Pasadena City Council members donned pink shirts during their weekly meeting here at City Hall.

Vice Mayor Victor Gordo (left) and District 6 Councilman Steve Madison are in the top photo.

Below: District 3 Councilman Chris Holden and District 2 Councilwoman Margaret McAustin.


And here are City Clerk Mark Jomsky and Mayor Bill Bogaard:


Firefighters came in their pink shirts and received a proclamation from Mayor Bogaard for showing solidarity this week with breast cancer awareness and women's cancer research.


I snapped this shot in the anteroom behind the council chamber, with District 1 Councilwoman Jacque Robinson in the middle:


Real firefighters wear pink!

Pasadena Firefighters Go Pink!

On Monday morning, Pasadena firefighters swapped their standard uniform shirts for pink t-shirts to help raise awareness of breast cancer and women's cancer research.

As public servants, Pasadena firefighters lead by example in this community every day.

In the composite photo above, firefighters from Fire Station 34 pose with representatives from the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

We had a photo opportunity for media on Monday; firefighters will wear the pink shirts while on duty from Oct. 25 to 30.

Shirts will also be available to the public for $20 at Fire Station 34, 1360 E. Del Mar Blvd. All proceeds will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

The International Association of Firefighters logo is on the front, and the back reads “Firefighters for the Cure.”


Many thanks to the Pasadena Fire Department.

Bloggers for Racial Justice

I hosted a table at the YWCA's Women for Racial Justice breakfast this morning.

With one exception, everybody at my table was a female Pasadena blogger.

Left to right on one side of the table (above): Rev. Susan Russell (Inch at a Time blog), Meredith McKenzie (Arroyo Lover blog), Thelma Reyna (Latina/o Writers Today blog), and Patt Diroll (On the Town writer, Pasadena Star-News).

On the other side of the table (below), left to right, Dianne Patrizzi (Mademoiselle Grammophone blog), Gina Mendolo (Mendolonium blog) and Debbi Swanson Patrick (Altadena Above It All blog).


The recipient of this year's Women for Racial Justice Award is Tony Stewart, who at the tender age of 9 picketed in her hometown of Pine Bluff, Ark., when the coloreds-only library didn't have the materials she needed for a school project and the whites-only library refused to let her in. Pine Bluff police escorted her off the premises.

After the family moved to Pasadena in 1930, she served as secretary of the Pasadena branch of the NAACP from 1934 to 1936, chaired a committee that petitioned the national NAACP headquarters to charter an Altadena branch, and worked with the League of Women Voters to draft the charter for the Altadena Town Council.

Now 93, she is president emeritus of the Altadena branch of the NAACP, which she led from 1984 to 1992.

Tony was too ill to be at the awards breakfast, so her family accepted for her:


Some participants in the YWCA's Just for Girls program were at the breakfast as well; all are students at Blair and Muir high schools.


The breakfast kicked off the YWCA's Week Without Violence.


Many thanks to the YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley Chapter.

Training Day

All day yesterday and today, and then next Wednesday and Thursday, I'm in federally mandated National Incident Management System (NIMS) training.

I'm not alone:


NIMS was put in place to provide a consistent, nationwide template that enables federal, state and local governments to work together in preparation for, prevention of, response to and recovery from disasters.

Fire Chief Dennis Downs and Lisa Derderian, our emergency management coordinator, are leading the training.




The training has included small-group exercises to make disaster planning and response decisions based on various scenarios.

I'm in Team 2 during these exercises. Team 2's incident commander is Larry Hammond (second from left with Chief Downs looking on), who in real life is our purchasing administrator. Under NIMS, the incident commander oversees the incident response and is the final authority on decisions.


Then the various teams reported out on how they would handle decisions during disasters, from public safety to infrastructure repair to evacuation logistics to filling out obligatory federal forms.

Here's Andy Green, our director of finance, reporting out for his group:


Roumiana Voutchkova, one of our water engineers...


And Jon Pollard, our code compliance manager:



Of course, there's a critical PIO function to any disaster, which I'll explain later.

Stay tuned for more after the training is completed, including what I learned and why it matters.

National Night Out

Jefferson Park was abuzz with activity last night as residents gathered for National Night Out hosted by the Pasadena Police Department. National Night Out is an annual event that promotes crime prevention.

The photo above shows Officer Arcand and Figo of the Pasadena Police Department K-9 program.

In addition to many police officers on hand at the park last night, police volunteers played an important role in providing educational information.


Police Explorers shot hoops with local kids.


Parents had an opportunity to get their children's fingerprints into a police database.


Pasadena firefighters cooked up hot dogs on their special grill.


Several other City of Pasadena departments had tables at the event. Jan Sanders (left), director of the Pasadena Public Library system, and Catherine Hany, library communications manager, provided information about library services.


The Human Services and Recreation Department made plenty of activities available for kids.


Youth Ambassadors offered assistance, information and ice-cold lemonade.


Children and teens turned blank boards into an artful masterpiece.


Theresa Lamb Simpson (left), field representative to Congressman Adam Schiff, chatted it up with District 2 City Councilwoman Margaret McAustin.


There's a lot of talent in Pasadena!


We'll see you at next year's National Night Out!

For more information about crime prevention in Pasadena, call (626) 744-4551.