A wildfire preparedness event took place at the Veterans Memorial in Cambria on Saturday for people of all ages.
Marisol Pena and other high school students participated in a poster contest for the event that took about two weeks to complete; noticing her surroundings and doing research.
“I've seen a lot of people all over Cambria when they stop smoking what they do is throw it on the ground and step on it,” Pena said.
She created an art piece for the contest that will be put on a bulletin for everyone around Cambria to see.
“A lot of people don't really know what can cause a fire and when you do your research, this is the top main thing that happens in fires that people step on their cigarettes without completely turning them off which can lead to a bigger problem,” Pena said.
A poster contest, fire insurance update, and home hardening conversations were a few of the topics discussed Saturday.
“This is a top priority for Cambria right now because we are obviously in a very high fire zone,” David Pierson, event coordinator said.
Keith Aggson, Emergency Services Coordinator at the SLO County Office of Emergency Services, was at the Wildfire Preparedness event to teach people in the county where the zones are. They developed a program to alert community members where they should go in a major emergency.
“A program that was software based but it allows our emergency responders in the field to be utilized to be effective when evacuating folks in an emergency,” Aggson said.
One of the topics Bob Putney, Community Liaison for Firewise USA Community for Cambria, talked about was home hardening and shared with KSBY some tips.
“Make sure they have defensible space around their home, make sure from the outside exterior of their home six feet out there's nothing combustible that would burn at all because if that catches on fire it could spread to the home,” Putney said.
He also added that people should replace the wood decking material underneath their exterior doors with non-combustible materials.
Other topics that were presented at the event included a fire insurance update, wildfire scenarios, and grant project conversations.
