K9 Arson Team Series Part 5: Stop Drop and Roll

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President of FireK9.org, Troy Morrison, goes on the road, along with his Fire Prevention K9, Ahren, to spread information to parents and children about fire safety in a unique way.

Morrison likes to make sure he has everyone's attention when he enters his fire prevention meetings with a loud, bright fire engine. Morrison explained, "Everybody likes a fire engine. I don't care who you are. If a fire engine goes down the street, you're going to turn around and look at it. So when I come into a meeting, I've got everyone's attention - parents, kids, all ages. It really opens it up so we can start talking about fire safety."

Ahren, Morrison's Dalmatian Fire Prevention K9, attends all fire prevention meetings with him. "One day I was down at the Chula Vista Shelter down in Southern California and walked around the corner, and believe it or not, there's Ahren in a kennel. I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm like, 'Wow. There's my prevention dog!', " explained Morrison.

Upon finding Ahren, Morrison decided that he was going to teach her how to "Stop, Drop and Roll," "Crawl Low," and perform other tricks to teach children about fire safety.

"Raise your hand if you know what this [smoke alarm] is. Keep your hand up if your parents tested it last month. What good is this if it doesn't work or the battery is dead? Nothing. For the parents who test their smoke detectors once a month, kudos to you," stated Morrison at a recent fire prevention meeting.

Morrison claimed that his tactics of using a fire engine, along with his Dalmatian partner Ahren, who performs all of her tricks during their fire safety presentation, make a lasting impression on attendees of his meetings.

"My message is to kind of make everybody think about 'What if'. And if I can get one parent and one child, in an evening like tonight, to actually practice their fire drills, practice their two exits out of their bedrooms, I really hit a home run if they do it 11:00 p.m. on a Saturday night so the kids are disoriented," remarked Morrison. "If I save one kid's life, it's worth it," he added.

To learn more about Troy Morrison and his K9 Handler support organization, visit www.fireK9.org.



Author:Ann Zevely - Video, Renee Marquart - Text