Fort Wayne Community Schools Additional Resources
In the summer of 1996, the FWCS superintendent announced the firefighter’s patrol program, F.I.R.E. This is a collaboration between the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Fort Wayne Fire Department and Fort Wayne Community Schools. Fort Wayne firefighters randomly patrol neighborhood streets around FWCS elementary schools during the morning and afternoon hours providing a visible presence to ward off potential problems for children walking to and from school.
Firefighters are a trusted part of our neighborhoods who have the opportunity to interact with students and school patrols. Their presence discourages neighborhood crimes and they serve as role models for our children.
FWCS alerts the FWFD when a suspicious person has been spotted in the area. The information is passed along to the F.I.R.E. teams, who work with the FWPD to keep a watchful eye in the specified area.
Firefighters Involved as Residential Eyes
Fort Wayne Fire Department Chief
As technology becomes more sophisticated, Fort Wayne Community Schools has become one of the first Indiana school districts to implement a program designed to assist emergency responders via the Internet.
The Allen County School Safety Commission has led the state in establishing a pro-active, innovative computer program to "increase student safety significantly in the event of an act of violence or natural disaster."
"The first ten minutes of an incident are critically important for achieving the most favorable results." A responder is able to immediately access information about the building occupants, the building structure and design, detailed floor plans and emergency plans unique to each school.
This pre-planning system enables the schools to develop a positive working relationship with emergency, fire and law enforcement personnel, by entering agreed-upon information into an interactive computer application.
Eric Lahey
