By Jessica A. York
The Santa Cruz Sentinel
SOQUEL, Calif. — Using a fire extinguisher is not as easy as it looks. First, there’s hefting it. Then, there’s aiming at the heart of the fire and holding the stream steady.
Lucky for 3-year-old Brayden Ybarra, of Capitola, dad Paul Ybarra was on hand Sunday to help shoulder some of the responsibility.
The family was one of many who steadily trickled into the 7th annual Disaster Preparedness Fair “Dangers in Paradise,” kicking off National Preparedness Month in September.
“It’s great. It’s educational and fun for the kids,” said Paul Ybarra, a community safety officer at UC Santa Cruz and a member of the university’s Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT. “CERT always needs more people. It’s community building and important in a natural disaster.”
Brayden, wearing a sticker police badge he had acquired at the fair, said he wants to grow up to be a firefighter, after trying out the fire extinguisher.
In addition to reminding the public to be prepared for the next natural disaster, whether that be fire, flooding, earthquake or otherwise, the fair, held in the Home Depot parking lot on 41st Avenue, also served as a refresher for CERT volunteers.
As CERT teams progressed through several emergency drills like pulling a dummy from beneath fallen wood, assessing patients for priority treatment, and fire extinguishing, team leaders checked in by two-way radios with Becky Steinbruner.
Steinbruner, both a CERT and local Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) member, said the fair is a great event that she has attended in the past. She said reading manuals and hearing talks on how to respond in an emergency does not compare to a live drill.
“To actually get it into your muscle memory is critical,” Steinbruner said. “And it’s great to see the public ... milling around here with some really great questions.”
Elizabeth Soria, with husband Jesus Soria and 4-year-old son Antonio Soria, lined up with other parents to have the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office take DNA samples, fingerprints and a photo of their children to create a free child ID kit. The booth, part of Home Depot’s coinciding 8th annual Safety Fair, was set up across the parking lot from the Disaster Preparedness Fair.
Elizabeth Soria, of Santa Cruz, said the family was drawn to the event by the sight of an ambulance and fire truck.
“We got to ask a bunch of questions, from equipment to staffing,” she said. “It was just interesting to see what we see rushing by every day with the lights and sirens, but up close.”
American Red Cross volunteer and retired Aptos-La Selva firefighter Mike Fyfe explained to passers-by what services the Red Cross offers in emergencies. Fyfe just returned from two weeks staffing shelters in Washington state, where firefighters are battling devastating wildfires.
"(The fair) just makes people aware. We do live in California. Earthquakes do happen and wildfires,” Fyfe said. “I think people are starting to recognize that they need to be prepared.”
Risto “Sam” Sjogren, of Forest Lakes in Felton, has been a CERT member for the past four years. He said he first became involved with citizen emergency response more than 15 years ago, when a nearby neighborhood had major flooding.
“I heard that this fair was going to be here and I would get to talk to a few people,” Sjogren, an amateur radio operator, said. “It’s a nice place to gather everyone together.”
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©2014 the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Scotts Valley, Calif.)