Last summer, a group of hard-charging Miramar (CA) Young Marines attended a SPACES FEMA CERT (Commu- nity Emergency Response Team) School held in Brea, CA. The Course Manager for the school was Division 6 Com- manding Officer Wilson Lee. The FEMA CERT School was highly informative and an obvious success. On November 4, 2017, at 0647 hours, YM/MSgt Sophia M. Righthouse put her FEMA CERT School training to use. YM M/Sgt Righthouse was riding with her parents southbound on Black Mountain Road approaching Mercy Road in the City of San Diego. She was dressed in her Charlies because she was in route to stand before a Bat- talion YMOY board. YM M/Sgt Righthouse noticed smoke rising from a nearby area. Recalling her FEMA CERT train- ing, she drew her father’s attention to the area stating, “There is a plume of black smoke rising ahead. That is a sign of a structure fire.” Upon fur- ther investiga- tion, YM/MSgt R i g h t h o u s e saw smoke and flames coming from a garage near the north end of a two- story,eight unit, condominium building. There were no lights on in the build- ing, leaving her to believe the residents were asleep. After parking on the main roadway and telephoning the 911 emergency dispatcher to report the fire, YM/MSgt Righthouse im- mediately exited the vehicle and stated, “I can help you evacuate the building. I know how.” She approached the building,walking up a small embankment.As she reached the driveway to the east of the garages, the burning ga- rage erupted into a 25 to 30-foot fireball, engulfing the building over the second floor. As she passed the garage to move to the north end of the building, three large explosions sent glass and debris flying into the drive- way. Righthouse began pounding on doors to alert and wake the residents.The residents of the first unit opened their door, releasing a large volume of smoke. The resi- dents were visually shaken.YM M/Sgt Righthouse said in a clear, loud (but calm) voice, “Get everyone out of your house. Leave your door unlocked. Do not re-enter your house. Please go to the far parking lot”, while pointing to the south end of the building, furthest away from the fire. She then went to the next unit, woke the residents, and repeated the same directions, in the same fashion. She moved south along the west side of the building repeating the instructions until all the residents had been evacuated. When an elderly woman inexplicably re-entered her residence, YM MSgt Righthouse notified her father and had him go inside the unit to retrieve her, while standing post outside the unit’s door in order to alert first responders of the situation. Once outside, YM M/Sgt Righthouse escorted the elderly woman to the evacuation area and asked her other family members to keep her there. Upon the arrival of the fire department, YM M/Sgt Righthouse briefed them on the incident, advising of the evacuations, the location of the evacuation point, and that she instructed the residents to leave their units un- locked for ease of entry for the first responders. When a firefighter told the Young Marine she had done a professional job evacuating the residents of the building, she re- plied, “Thank you, sir. I learned how to handle emergency situations like this when I attended a FEMA CERT training this summer.” The Young Marines is an awesome program full of op- portunities and experiences available nowhere else. Get involved and take advantage of what Young Marines has to offer. Attend the training and schools made available to you, and while having fun and meeting other Young Marines, you will become a better and more knowledge- able person, an outstanding leader, and who knows, but that it may one day help you save a life. --Submitted by Bret A. Righthouse, Unit Commander, Miramar (CA) Young Marines FEMA CERT School Lessons Applied to a Real Life Emergency Observing the apparent signs of a structural fire, a Young Marine responds to the crisis. 30 YOUNG MARINES ESPRIT ONLINE