A Ventura County Fire Department’s Firehawk helicopter passes overhead at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, before demonstrating a dramatic water drop.
It’s impressive to the hundreds of visitors at this one-day wildfire safety event. But it's also lifesaving and property-saving, in the event of a real wildfire as we head into what is traditionally high-fire season.
"This weekend we entered critical fire season, which is when that moisture level drops below a certain point where any fire start has the potential to go into a much larger brush fire," explained Scott Thomsen, from the Ventura County Fire Department.
"Here in Ventura County, wildfire is a risk year-round. It is a part of living here to be ready for this," said Thomsen.
The VCFD is just one of the agencies at this one-day family-friendly event, which aims to equip Ventura County residents with the knowledge and tools to stay safe before, during, and after a fire and to have plans in place ahead of time.
"It's hard to get people to see the importance of that," said Kim Dellacourt, Emergency Manager at the Office of Emergency Services in Ventura County. "Preparing ahead of time, it takes the panic out of the moment, and you fall into what you've already decided and what's already been communicated. It really helps when you know it's an urgent situation."
There are also goats present. They may be a cute distraction for the visitors, but they can be very useful in helping to reduce vegetation, which can fuel a fire.
"They are nature's eating machines," said Scout Raskin is from LA Party Goats and Grazing. "They're really great at scaling difficult terrain, but they also eat invasive species, which helps our natural California plant life to regrow."
Young visitor Elizabeth was one of many attendees who soaked up the information.
"They eat the grass!" she explained. "So then there isn't that grass and stuff. If there was a fire there isn´t so much to burn."
If and when disaster strikes, the American Red Cross is ready at the front line—and is demonstrating life-saving tips.
According to Steve Medina from the American Red Cross, they're also making wildfire preparedness a family affair.
"We have handouts for kids on how to prepare. Those are plans you review with your family. Get them on board. Say, 'Mom and Dad, what are we doing for disaster preparedness?' We want them to feed that information to their parents so they take that information back."
Another critical group needs help when there’s a wildfire—our four-legged friends.
Randy Friedman from Ventura County Animal Services distributed information to pet owners.
"We take our family, we take our animals, but then we forget all the things that our animals are going to need like food, water, toys, medication, things like that," explained Friedman. "At our table, we have go-bag information, [which is] a list of things to put into a bag in case you need to leave. This is a window sticker in case you evacuate and, for some reason, you had to go so fast that you had to leave an animal behind. This sticker indicates that there are animals inside that need to be rescued," he said.
Following the recent Mountain Fire and LA wildfires, one joint message is all too clear: Disaster can strike suddenly. Being prepared can buy crucial minutes.
