Founder William Rolland was a firefighter for the city of Los Angeles for 17 years. During January 1969, the city faced one of the worst rain and flood emergencies in its history. On the 25th of the month, Rolland was with an LAFD crew that responded to a physical rescue assignment in the canyons of West Los Angeles. While working to free a trapped resident, another surge of mud flowed onto the structure, burying both the victim and the rescuer. Other firefighters worked to reach them, now beneath more than three feet of mud. As Rolland lost consciousness, he maintained his grip on the victim. Other firefighters managed to get an air hose into Rolland’s mouth and he began to breath again. Both individuals were eventually pulled from the mud and debris and rushed to the hospital, although the resident did not survive. Rolland did, but his injuries ended his career as a firefighter. For his efforts to rescue the resident, the Los Angeles Fire Department awarded William Rolland the Medal of Valor.

Upon his retirement, Rolland turned his attention to real estate. As with his firefighting endeavors, Bill was focused and determined to be successful. His construction business expanded and he began to realize some excellent success. Yet, his commitment to community also continued. As his business flourished, he began to develop a series of philanthropic activities, leading up to the creation of his firefighter foundation and its non-profit educational subsidiary.

With accolades from the Los Angeles Fire Department, the White House, The United States Senate, The State of California and most recently, the County of Ventura, Rolland continues to dedicate himself to a wide range of programs, including his commitment to the Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Society, its museums, and the fallen firefighter memorial in Hollywood.

This summer, the Educational Institute that bears his name will introduce the first in a series of fire safety drills for fire service organizations. “Considerations for Shipboard Firefighting,” deals with harbor-related emergencies and is designed to provide a strong foundation for boots on the ground who will ultimately need to deal with these incidents.

The Educational Institute is also working to develop a new educational program unique to the LAFD Museum in Hollywood. As it is, families and children can visit the museum and learn about personal and in-home fire safety. The museum website will provide information on events and educational programs as they become available.

Posted by dbarrett at 04:12 PM | Comments ( 0 )

May 05, 2007

We Welcome Metro Chiefs to the LAFD Museum

On Saturday, May 5th, the LAFD Museum will play host to the 2007 Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Conference. As part of the one-week program, fire chiefs from around the world will stop by the museum, tour, and meet with LAFD Historical Society members. The Metro Chiefs reception will commence at approximately 4:30PM.

The week long event includes updates on the US Fire Administration, Intelligence related to terrorism preparedness, firefighter cancer support, GIS technology, the "everyone goes home program" (who visited the LAFD Museum on 9 April), new trends in fire service deployment, a firefighter "near miss" reporting system and much more.

And there is entertainment as well, with tours of not only the LAFD museum, but Paramount Studios, the Getty, the Queen Mary, Universal, the Griffith Observatory, the Farmers Market, the Trump National Golf Course and the Magic Castle.

The Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Section was organized in 1965. Fire Chiefs from large cities gather to share information and experiences. They also discuss issues that may be of value to a wide variety of departments. The Metropolitan Section is organized as a section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs and as a section of the National Fire Protection Association pursuant to and subject to the requirements and provisions of both organizations. The Metro Chiefs Section is limited to the chief of the department who is a member of both the IAFC and the NFPA and who is the fire chiefs of cities or jurisdictions having a minimum staffed strength of 400 fully paid career fire fighters.

Posted by dbarrett at 05:42 PM | Comments ( 0 )