THOUSAND OAKS : Students Honor Firefighters at Lunch

Student government leaders at Westlake High School on Friday rolled out the red carpet--literally--to salute about 20 Ventura and Los Angeles county firefighters who helped battle the Greenmeadow fire that scorched 40,000 acres two weeks ago.

The 36 members of the Associated Student Government class kicked off an appreciation lunch at the Thousand Oaks campus by extending strips of red carpets as the firefighters arrived.

The 1,200-student high school’s attendance area includes some of the housing tracts threatened by the arson-caused fire.

“I felt the firefighters didn’t get enough positive recognition for what they did to help the community,” said organizer Scott Nussbaum, 16, a junior and member of the student government.

The firefighters ate hot dogs, hamburgers and potato chips paid for by the student government class. After lunch, they were treated to the music of an alternative rock band before receiving plaques of honor.

“A lot of people are displaying all this enthusiasm for the Fire Department, but when you see people at this age level displaying it, you know you’re getting the right message across,” said Ventura County Fire Battalion Chief Al Wilsey.

The students saved special attention for local fire Station 31 in the Westlake area of Thousand Oaks, presenting Capt. Norm Stafford with an AM-FM cassette player to keep in the fire engine.

“At first, I was thinking, why are these kids doing this? They usually want their school to burn,” Stafford said, smiling. “But I think people have really seen what we do and what we’re up against. There’s a lot more awareness.”