By Doug Oster
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Copyright 2007 P.G. Publishing Co.
PITTSBURGH — As summer faded last year, the Whiting family lit a small bonfire in their back yard in Pine.
Ben Whiting, 17, and his sister, Taylor, 15, saw that some burning paper had blown out of the fire ring, but before they could get to it, their 9-year-old autistic cousin, Harry Wilfong, started walking toward the fire.
“He didn’t really know what it was,” Taylor said. “So, he wanted to touch it, and we held him back.” Ben ran to get a bucket of water to douse the fire.
Talking later that night, the two siblings wondered aloud what could have happened if they hadn’t been there.
“Harry’s reaction just triggered something,” Taylor said. “We all care about him a lot, and we didn’t want to see anything like that happen to him or anybody that needed assistance.”
The next day, they joined forces with their friend, Matt Hickey, 17, to come up with ideas of how they could help alert the fire department about people in the community who have special needs.
The three first thought about using stickers that could be placed on front doors, but then they thought it would be more helpful if the fire department knew ahead of time that someone with special needs was in a house.
They designed a form that residents could fill out and send to the fire department. It has a place for the address and space to list specific needs of a person in the home.
They took the concept to the Wexford Volunteer Fire Department in Pine, whose members embraced the idea from the start.
“I was impressed. It was a good idea,” said Tim Flaherty, fire marshal for Pine, who has served as the conduit between the fire department and the three students. He saw right away how important the program could be for residents.
“When you’re going to any type of emergency, as much information about that location you know ahead of time, the better off you are,” he said. Whether it’s someone who has autism, uses a wheelchair or has any other special need, it helps emergency personnel be better prepared.
The form is available to all Pine residents and is held in confidence at the fire department.
Eventually, the teens will use or develop software that will allow the fire department to make better use of the database of names, addresses and residents with specific needs.
Everyone hopes it can be used in conjunction with a computer program called First Look, which the fire department uses now and which is being installed on its fire trucks. It will give firefighters crucial data about businesses as they head to an emergency. Ben’s and Taylor’s mother, Cindy Whiting, understands how a 9-year-old autistic boy could be the genesis of something so important.
She has watched as her two children and their friend have interacted with Harry over the years.
“They are very conscious about special needs. They are very protective of him,” she said. Harry is the son of her sister, Carla Wilfong, of Altoona.
She also has watched as they have developed the program and she has coached the three through some of the rough spots of the project.
“It’s nice that they see the big picture,” she said. “It makes my sister very proud.”
To fill out an online version of the form, go to .
The fire department is working on a way for residents to print a hard copy of the form to be mailed back to the station. The forms also will be available soon at the Pine municipal building.