The Kasey Program was started in 1994 by Jeff Owens as a way to teach children about fire & life safety. Jeff is a retired career firefighter/paramedic after more than 31 years of service and felt a strong desire to have a positive impact on teaching our children their fire & life safety skills.
The Kasey Program uses our black Labrador Retrievers to demonstrate the safety skills taught, i.e., Kasey demonstrates, Stop, Drop & Roll, checking the door to see if it's hot, crawling under the smoke, as well as many other skills. The program is designed to educate children from preschool age to 6th grade. A preschool only program will usually last 20 to 30min. The full program usually last 45 minutes allowing the dogs to teach all of their skills and also using music to reinforce the skills taught.
The dogs wear the badge of the Wayne Township Fire Department and are trained as search and rescue and are therapy dogs are a part of Indiana, Illinois and Ohio Burn camps.
The program really started to grow when Koorsen Fire & Security became our sponsor in 1998. We now reach and teach more than 400,000 children annually, in more than 400 programs traveling across the United States. This program is the only full time, nationally touring fire prevention program in the country.
"The Kasey Program is not only the best fire & life Safety program in the country, but Kasey is able to make connections with people of all ages and ability levels that humans can not! You have to see it to believe it. Schedule your program today!" - George Callahan - Public Educator, Indianapolis Fire Department
"The Kasey program has been visiting the first grade students of White Lick Elementary, in Brownsburg, IN, for the past nine years. This program is a true display of dedication and commitment to educating today's youth about fire safety. Firefighter Jeff and his service dogs are a joy to watch. Jeff uses music, role playing, and interactive questioning to teach students how to keep safe and prevent fires. His lessons are aligned with academic standards in the areas of science, health and language arts. Every new school year at White Lick starts off with the Kasey Program and we wouldn't have it any other way. Thank you for all you do for our children and the community." -Angela Kreitzer, First Grade Teacher, White Lick Elementary, Brownsburg, INys