Fire Prevention Day open house draws crowd




There was no shortage of education and entertainment at the Valley Center Station 72 open house last Saturday. The event was held in honor of Fire Prevention Day, and community members of all ages turned out to learn about fire safety, see demonstrations, and get to

know their local firefighters.

Valley Center Fire and the San Pasqual Reservation Department partnered to host the open house. The crew from Station 73 demonstrated their emergency rescue skills by cutting into a car, and a helicopter from Mercy Air stopped by in the morning before taking off on a call.

There was also face-painting, soft-serve ice cream, tacos, a jump slide for the kids, and a special guest appearance by Smokey the Bear.

The open house came the same week as the 10th anniversary of the Cedar fire. The Valley Center Large Animal Rescue Team (LAST), the Valley Center Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), and several other organizations had booths at the open house to educate people on how to stay safe in the event of another wildfire.

One other highlight was a demonstration trailer called the Safety House on loan from the Morongo Fire Department. The trailer would fill with smoke and anyone inside quickly got an appreciation for the importance of smoke detectors and smoke alarms.

“Our main goal is to get the word out there about fire preparation and prevention for your family,” said Chief Harold Rodriguez. The open

house comes soon after the merger between the San Pasqual Department and the Valley Center Fire Protection District.



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