CERT Community Emergency Response Team Shaker Hts OHIO

09/02/2026

CERT Strong in 2025 💪🚒

This year, Shaker Heights CERT members gave 950+ hours to training, outreach, and event support—from Take-to-the-Lake to National Night Out and more. We’re proud to serve alongside our regional partners and community groups like AARP.

🔥 400+ smoke detectors installed since October—free to residents thanks to our partnership with the Shaker Heights Fire Department and the Red Cross. This life-saving program continues in 2026!

📈 Plans are underway to expand CERT’s services in 2026. Our team keeps growing, and our commitment runs deep—nearly 20 years strong in Shaker Heights, part of a national network of 600,000+ trained CERT volunteers.

🥰We’re ready. We’re trained. We’re here for Shaker.

10/01/2026

CERT members celebrating at our 3rd Annual Dinner on January 3 with good food and great conversations!

10/01/2026

CERT, supporting the Shaker Heights Fire Department, were joined by six new Shaker residents in 2025 following their graduation from our Training Academy. Representing a wide group of interests, energies, and demographics, the volunteer group took on a new project last year.

Working with the Fire Department, Red Cross, and City of Shaker Heights they installed smoke detectors in 64 Shaker Heights homes in the last two months of 2025. CERT will continue this partnership in 2026. CERT also supports other community activities including providing safety at events like Take to the Lake and the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes annual hike and run and staffing Shaker's emergency shelter.

12/12/2025

Looking for a holiday gift, consider a fire blanket!

A fire blanket is a great first-response tool for small, contained fires (like a pan on the stove), but a fire extinguisher covers a broader range of household fires and offers safety distance, making a comprehensive plan ideally include BOTH, plus smoke alarms, and always prioritizing safety and calling 911.

10/12/2025

Meet CERT member Heather E Torok!

How long have you been in Shaker Heights and what do you love about our community?

We've been in Shaker 26 years and love the people, trees, and community belonging.

When did you join CERT? And what was your motivation for joining?

I joined CERT in 2023, to engage in my own backyard, and draw on my professional background in Public Health.

What is one of your best memories in CERT?

The community events that we help staff (e.g.: Take to the Lake, Nature Center 5k, National Night Out, etc.) They are fun and educational.

I also have enjoyed creating our digital footprint and starting our page. Engagement is up and it's a way we can feel connected, share health and safety information, and recruit new members.

If you were asked what CERT is, how would you describe it?

A FEMA program training volunteers to help neighbors in disaster preparedness and basic response skills.

What do you do for fun?

I like to spend time in nature, learn, discover new places, and hang with family and friends. My husband and I have 2 young adult children and a kitty cat named Louie.

23/11/2025

Shaker Heights Fire department & CERT November spotlight, Lou Bottone!!!🥰

23/11/2025

CONGRATULATIONS Shaker Heights 2025 CERT Graduates

08/11/2025

Great first day on the job for CERT installing (free) smoke detectors throughout Shaker Heights in partnership with American Red Cross. We installed detectors in 23 homes today. Pictured are CERT members Piet Hagenaars and Raleigh Guice along with Fire Chief Sweeney!

03/11/2025

Holiday travel, winter coming, make sure you are safe and ready!

31/10/2025

Meet our 2025 CERT class. They are ready to serve and assist our first responders!

31/10/2025

Thank you to our Shaker Heights Chief Culture and Engagement Officer, Colleen Jackson who shared in our CERT meeting a conversation on unconscious bias and Disaster Psychology!

As Chief Culture and Engagement Officer, Colleen is charged with advising the mayor, chief administrative officer, and department directors on issues concerning culture and engagement, offering strategic guidance to foster a welcoming and respectful environment throught our city.

15/10/2025

So excited for this partnership!

Don't let another day go by without working smoke detectors in your home. The Shaker Heights Fire Dept., the Community Emergency Response Team and the American Red Cross are offering free smoke detectors, which will be installed by members of the SHFD and CERT. Get started at bit.ly/SH-smoke

Shaker Heights Professional Firefighters CERT Community Emergency Response Team Shaker Hts OHIO