The Paso Robles Downtown City Park hosted SafetyFest for the third consecutive year, giving community members a hands-on learning experience in the event of a natural disaster.
The event put on by PasoSafe, the city of Paso Robles Fire and Emergency Services, Paso Robles Police Department, and North San Luis Obispo County Community Emergency Response Team is the only one like it in North County.
“We pretty much have it all in terms of safety," PasoSafe co-founder Mark Elterman said. “This is an event that now we're attracting not just city fire and emergency services, but we have SLO county, we have the state of California, and we also have the federal agencies that are all participating together in the park.”
Proceeds from the event support the North San Luis Obispo CERT so the non-profit organization can continue to educate the public about disaster preparedness that directly impacts the community.
“The community is getting better trained," Elterman added. "They show up and they're interacting with the experts. Not only are the kids becoming a lot [more] knowledgeable in safety, but a lot of them are actually teaching their parents”
As the city of Paso Robles is cracking down on vegetative growth come fire season, so is firefighter and combat veteran Joseph Torres. Torres created All Risk Shield to aid homes amid a fire with fire and ember-resistant vents along with long-term fire retardants.
"Especially here in SLO, they're starting to take [action] and move forward with good brush clearance, but also take into effect the preventative measures to the structures themselves," Torres said. "Flame-resistant vents or ember-resistant vents, as well as gutter guards, add to that increase of structure survivability."
“Getting the community together has been one of the largest accomplishments and the most rewarding," Krav Maga XD owner Adam Mora said.
