TEMECULA -- Firefighter Matt Diiullo has a 9-month-old son and already he thinks about teaching him the basic points of safety.

"I'll probably introduce it when he's 1 1/2 to 2 years old," Diiullo said. "I don't think that's too young of an age to start telling him about it."

In his best fatherly voice, Diiullo was doing just that Saturday morning in the Guaranty Bank parking lot on Margarita Road.

In a mobile public safety display designed to look like a house, he was teaching kids the basics of being safe. In case of a fire, he said, stop, drop and roll.

He advised them to always call their parents if they see flames. He told them to crawl close to the floor when there's smoke in the house. And he cautioned that school fire alarms should never be touched unless there is a genuine emergency.

It was all part of the Temecula Fire Department's fire and emergency prevention and preparedness program. Children and their parents paraded through the mobile unit, most of them listening closely to Diiullo.

At the countywide level, there is a new program called 911 for Kids, which recognizes elementary school children for responding well in case of emergency.

According to Cheri Patterson, public information officer for the Riverside County Fire Department, in only six months children from Moreno Valley, Corona, Murrieta, and Wildomar have already been awarded for their quick-thinking heroics.

"I used to be a 911 dispatcher and we had kids as young as 3 call in and tell about parents being sick or hurt," Patterson said. "So they're never too young to learn about these things."

Among the visitors Saturday were Bobby and Renee Huggins, along with their four children, Christopher, 6, twins Amaya and Courtney, 3, and Nicholas, 1. Like most parents, they hope their children are never caught in an emergency but realize it can always happen.

"I remember my father had to help a man who had been in a car accident so, yes, it can happen," said Bobby Huggins.

His wife added: "It's important just to get children exposed to this information early so they can feel safe."

The information wasn't just limited to children. Volunteers with the Temecula Citizens Corps were on hand to talk about the Community Emergency Response Team, which is called out to help with the bigger problems, such as earthquakes and wildfires.

"We're trained in large-scale emergencies but we also work with smaller things like Neighborhood Watch," said volunteer Harry Pollak of Temecula. "We fill in wherever we're needed."

The group numbers about 270 volunteers who help out anywhere from two to 20 hours per month, depending on their commitment.

To learn more about the Citizen Corps and CERT, go to www.cityoftemecula.org/tcc.