The National Fire Protection Agency licenses Sparky and coloring books, pencils, crayons and helmets are also available for purchase.The Sparky website (www.Sparky.org) lets the dog talk – okay, write down things – for himself including his birth year of 1951.Sparky’s beginning was as a lost pup who liked to watch school children play but was too shy to join in.One day Sparky followed two children home and took a nap under a tree in front of their house: he awakened to see their house was on fire.He ran to the fire department barking all the way and led the firefighters back to the house … the grateful firemen kept Sparky as their own and he em“barked” on a career to teach families and children how to avoid fires.Sparky puts a face on fire safety but Chief Araiza said at the Easter Egg Hunt there were some complications with the fire canine’s own face: “The kids kept grabbing him and he kept looking down” way down, as it turns out Sparky can’t see over his snout.Or see much of anything else: “The wind was blowing real hard and something big and airborne was heading for Sparky … he couldn’t see it coming. People were yelling at him” but the fire dog couldn’t see the potential collision on its way.“Sparky just kept walking around like no big deal” but thankfully, noted Chief Araiza, “it just blew right past him … ”
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Sparky made his debut at the city Easter Egg Hunt where Andy Van Sciver, a SPFD and Citizens Corps member, said the kids flocked to the oversized Sparky who is, of course, a Dalmatian. (Photo by Santa Paula Times) |
Watch out McGruff, there’s a new dog in town with SPFD’s Sparky
April 22, 2009
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesWatch out McGruff, there’s a new dog in town with the arrival of Sparky, the Santa Paula Fire Department’s canine tool to teach children fire safety.The addition of Sparky means the SPFD and the Santa Paula Police departments each have kid-friendly canines reinforcing public safety.Sparky made his debut at the city Easter Egg Hunt where Andy Van Sciver, a SPFD and Citizens Corps member, said the kids flocked to the oversized Sparky who is, of course, a Dalmatian.Like his SPPD counterpart, Van Sciver said Sparky remains silent but the kids naturally did all the talking.“Sparky’s a big character, safe and cool” and noted Van Sciver, easily recognizable in his fire turnout, helmet and boots.Sparky will be “Visiting schools teaching the kids about fire safety … the firefighters will be doing the speaking” while Sparky reinforces the lessons – such as Stop, Drop and Roll among others - just by being there.“Sparky also dovetails with our Rainbow Valley Fire Department DVDs” now being rebroadcast throughout the month of April on Time Warner Cable Channel 10.The DVDs and Sparky will expand public education, “Particularly,” said Van Sciver, “for the children … in the past year we picked up two integral pieces” of the public safety campaign.The kids “Really liked Sparky at the Easter Egg Hunt … the attraction was instantaneous, the kids were all over him.“I was,” Van Sciver noted, “seriously taken back” by Sparky’s reception.
