Saving Lives: Students, Firefighters Share Stories in Community Theater Project

The scenes told stories of firefighters who rushed into burning buildings to save complete strangers, of men and women who risked their lives, never knowing if the day would be their last, of the people they saved and the others they couldn’t.

Theater students at Cal Poly Pomona collaborated with firefighters from Station 151 in Glendora to perform readings inspired by the firefighters’ own experiences as part of the students’ final projects Tuesday. The readings were performed at the fire station with firefighters – who had little to no theater experience – taking part in the performances.

Captain Eddie Lozano said the experience was moving, as the readings captured the danger, thrill, frustrations and rewards of being a firefighter.

“It was like reading about my own life,” said Lozano. “When my wife first heard the scripts, she had tears in her eyes.”