The East Mountain Emergency Preparedness Festival in Angelus Oaks is a local event that aims to get communities ready for wildfires, earthquakes, and other emergencies. It’s a day of education and community building, with live demonstrations and safety tips from emergency response agencies like CalFire and CERT. And there’s a meet and greet with Smokey Bear himself.
Crystal Ramirez is a member of the Angelus Oaks Fire Safe Council. She shares what visitors can expect at the festival, with some fun surprises to accompany vital information on emergency preparedness.
"We're going to have first responders, emergency response groups, and even an earthquake simulator. There's going to be a watermelon eating contest, giveaways, we're going to have vendors there selling items that would help the community with different topics relating to emergency preparedness and staying safe living in the mountains."
But Crystal says the festival is open to everyone, from mountain residents, to visitors, and all of the surrounding communities down the hill.
"I grew up in San Bernardino along the San Andreas Fault, so I think that this is a really good opportunity for everybody in the Inland Empire to come up and gain some resources, gain some knowledge on how you can stay better prepared for any type of emergency."
The festival comes just months after residents of Angelus Oaks and many other mountain communities were evacuated due to wildfire.
"We were inspired by the Line Fire, and all the other recent fires that have been happening around our area, but we're just thinking about the future and how we can better protect our community."
The Oaks Restaurant, where the festival takes place, stayed open during the Line Fire evacuations to feed all of the firefighters stationed there protecting the town. Now The Oaks serves as a fitting location for the East Mountain Emergency Preparedness Festival, this Saturday, July 26 from 10am to 3pm in Angelus Oaks at 37676 Hwy 38.
For 91.9 KVCR News, I’m Shareen Awad.
