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A loose coalition of local businesses and city organizations gathered in Civic Center Park Saturday for Berkeley’s first Safety and Preparedness Fair.  

Co-sponsored by the Berkeley Fire Department’s Office of Emergency Services, the Berkeley Police Department and Project Impact — a national initiative begun in 1997 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency — the fair was designed to inform the public, introduce the affiliated companies and services and realize Project Impact’s mission of, “building a disaster-resistant Berkeley.” 

“It's about how to strengthen our built environment,” said Carol Lopes, Project Impact’s local coordinator. “Because we have a lot of information now. The city’s had safety fairs before. ... All these folks are partners of ours.”  

She indicated the diverse but complementary collection of interactive exhibits and information tables.  

Another organizer, OES’ Dory Ehrlich, agreed. 

“It doesn't happen all that often that city departments work cooperatively to put together a fair,” she said. 

But a safety fair is a tough sell, especially on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Despite the lure of a mobile climbing wall by Cal Adventures, the hospitality of Dylan, a disaster search dog and a raffle of small prizes, many locals were either preoccupied with the Easter weekend — or simply in disaster denial. Attendance was relatively sparse.  

The fair’s planners hoped for hundreds, but instead received dozens. Still, planners remained confident that informing even one person constitutes success, and that once the fair becomes an annual event, it will gain momentum. 

Many of those who did attend trickled in from the nearby farmer’s market. 

“I needed to trip over this to actually buy it,” said Oakland's Amy Hertz of the glowsticks and solar powered radio she'd purchased from the fair’s Earthquake Store outpost. “It's the kind of thing I've been meaning to do for a while, but it's never at the top of my list.”  

Hertz has lived in the Bay Area since 1987.  

“So I’ve been through the ’89 earthquake,” she said. “I take earthquakes seriously since that one.” 

She was not alone. Discussions at nearly every table — from the Red Cross to the energy office to the Tool Lending Library — revolved around the prospect of a major local earthquake.  

There is a 70 percent chance of a magnitude 6.7 quake striking the greater Bay Area within 30 years, according to Project Impact, and fairgoers, whether in denial or not, seemed at least resigned to the notion that it’s just a matter of time.  

“If you're prepared for earthquakes, you're prepared for everything,” said Berkeley Fire Capt. Malcolm Green. 

No public discussion of preparedness would be complete without the Boy Scouts, of course, and members of Troop 19 were also on hand.  

“We heard about this event, and we thought it would be a good way to help the community,” said Garrison Ham, a 14-year-old star scout from Richmond. “Because that’s what we do. We hope more people will take an interest in safety.”  

Among their many local projects, the scouts have helped with seismic retrofitting throughout the community. 

Seated behind pamphlets weighed down with foundation plates, special square washers, and other retrofitting hardware, Berkeley Building Inspector Ellie Leard explained that permits for seismic work are free. Doing such work, she said, provides homeowners with safety, peace of mind and tax incentives as well.  

Foundation work, she noted, is the most important element of seismic retrofitting.  

“If they can’t afford to do all of it, what they can afford to do is better than nothing,” she said. 

Committed to making the public aware of abundant available resources, fair organizers hope it won’t take a seismic shock for people to get over their preparedness inertia.  

“We can minimize loss of lives and property through taking these actions,” said Lopes. “Seattle’s probably a poster child for mitigation,” she added, referring to the minimal damage wrought by a 6.8 quake there in February. “They had a minimum of loss there. They put in a lot of pre-disaster investment. Right now we are touting about a 38 percent home retrofit rate. We want to get that up to 60 or 70 percent.” 

Inside the home, she explained, preparedness needn’t require radical efforts or be terribly costly.  

“It’s about a hundred dollar investment for the average homeowner and involves minor adjustments and easily modified behavior. Just like we latched our cupboards when our kids were small,” she said. 

Lopes and her colleagues could at least rest assured that the fair’s attendance, however sparse, was enthusiastic.  

“I'm very glad that they have these programs,” said Berkeley's Alicia Juarez. “This was very interesting.”