Each year, Coronado is home to a dozen fire and police agencies from around San Diego County for its yearly public safety open house. This event, on Oct. 5, kicks off the start of National Fire Prevention Week.
“It’s a big event,” Fire Chief Jayson Summers said, estimating around 5,000-10,000 people showed up last year.
He’s attended this open house every year since he joined the Coronado Fire Department in 2005. “I’ve never missed a single open house in 20 years,” he said.
According to a release from the city, there will be activities like station tours and safety demonstrations that the whole family can participate in.
However, this is not a regular, run-of-the-mill police station tour and fire engine tour, Summers explained.
A car is towed in that simulates a vehicle accident with a live demonstration on how first responders will cut the car apart and pull people out, and even a helicopter that will land in the closed off intersection of Sixth Street, Seventh Street and D Avenue.
There will also be fire engines from cities all over the county and from the United States Forest Service.
And on the Police Department’s side, there will be SWAT vehicles, police motorcycles, bomb technicians and much, much more. Kids even get to be “put in jail” to see what it’s like, Summers said lightly.
It’s not so much like a tour as it is just this massive educational environment.
Coronado Fire Chief Jayson Summers
“It’s not so much like a tour as it is just this massive educational environment,” the fire chief said.
National Fire Prevention Week was first started in 1925 by President Calvin Coolidge in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire that happened in 1871, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
“What we’re trying to do is reduce the number of fires, right? So that enhances the safety of not only our firefighters, but our community, and really try to promote life saving habits,” Summers explained.
The goal is to connect with the community and raise public awareness, but in a fun and engaging way, especially with kids who will be attending, the fire chief said.
There will be food and treats like ice cream and snow cones. “When you connect fun to learning, people tend to remember it forever,” Summers said.
This free event will start at 11 a.m. on Oct. 5 right before National Fire Prevention Week and will be held between Coronado’s fire station on Sixth Street and the police department on Seventh Street and D Avenue.
