LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Families enjoyed Lamorinda Safety Fair and Ham Radio's "Field Day"


Lafayette resident Levi Newman, age four, really enjoyed meeting the firemen of ConFire and exploring their truck. Photo Sora O'Doherty

The Lamorinda Safety Fair joined the Lamorinda Area Radio Interest Group (LARIG), on Saturday, June 22 at the Lafayette Reservoir. While LARIG was conducting their annual Field Day, other local agencies set up tables and brought exhibits to demonstrate how they are addressing local safety issues, to raise awareness and disseminate important information.

Some of the groups represented were the Lafayette Police Department, Moraga Orinda Fire Department, Contra Costa Fire, the Contra Costa Sheriff's office, and Lamorinda Community Emergency Response Team (CERT.) There was a plethora of trucks to explore at the event, from fire trucks to communications trucks to search and rescue rigs. East Bay Regional Parks was represented, as they have their own police and fire departments, including two helicopters.

Families were able to get on the air with local ham radio operators, see specialized fire fighting gear up close, learn to perform CPR, meet first responders, and browse the public safety exhibits with plenty of free giveaways.

Radio fans could talk to ham radio operators from around the world during Field Day, which is an annual event where 40,000 radio hobbyists set up temporary radio stations in public places to demonstrate their skills in emergency radio communications and practice for a real disaster response. LARIG pitched tents and erected different types of antennas to see how many radio contacts they could make with field gear, including batteries, solar panels, and generators.

Al Archangel, LARIG's president, explained that everyone was able to join the fun of making radio calls with a special Get-On-The-Air station that was operating just for this event. "This was a great event for youngsters and oldsters alike and a way to explore ham radio and also see the latest in public safety gear and emergency response preparations," he said.