Families Flock to Public Safety Day

Families from all over gathered at for the city’s second annual Fire Services and Public Safety Day on Saturday, hosted by the City of Agoura Hills Department of Community Services and the Los Angeles County Fire Department (L.A.F.D.).

With a variety of demonstrations and hands-on activities there was something for everyone to enjoy. The event included a fire station open house, fire safety demonstrations as well as food and entertainment. 

Local organizations such as the , the United States Army, and offered interactive activities.

There were many fire station vehicles on display, including the Incident Command, LA County Hook and Ladder, Paramedics, Fire Department transport vehicles, and LA County Life Guards. The crowd was also treated to a special fly-by by a water-dropping helicopter.

Kids of all ages got to shoot water from a real fire house, climb a rock wall and examine working fire-fighting gear and vehicles up close.

"Fire Station Day happens every year, usually in May,” said Capt. Jason Gardenas of Fire Station 125, which serves Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Hidden Hills and Malibu. “Fire stations across Southern California open their doors and get all the rigs together for an open house.” 

At this year's open house, there were a wide variety of fire service vehicles on display. "The great thing about LA County is the arsenal we can bring to one event,” said Cardenas. “We have a hook and ladder truck that can do extraction, structure fires and brush fires. “We've got the pumper truck that gets in there for grass fires and house fires."

Also on exhibit was a specialized 'Type III' brush vehicle which is a 4 x 4. "It goes places in the hills that our normal engines cannot. It's a great resource," said Cardenas. "There are five in the county and luckily one of them is housed at Calabasas."

Cameron Gibson, 3, came to the event decked out from head to toe in fire fighting paraphernalia. Gibson said his favorite part about being a fire fighter was "putting out fires."  

Finn Ward, 3 shared Gibson's enthusiasm. Ward was eager to share how much he loved fire trucks and how he also aspires to be a fireman. According to Ward's father, Mark, "He puts on his outfit every morning or at least he tries to if we'd let him. His favorite TV show right now is Transformers Rescue Bots, because there is a firetruck Transformer."

"It's a great day for everybody to come together," said Cardenas. "It's great for the Fire Service to come out and interact with the public, say hello and show them what we do."