first responders

Pascual Torres didn’t set out to have a career in the boot business, but fate sometimes has a funny way of intervening. When Pascual suffered a back injury in 2004, he needed to find a quick way to make some money that didn’t involve heavy lifting. He agreed to learn the trade just enough to help out temporarily. “It was hard. At first, when I was watching other guys doing it, I thought ‘Oh, that’s easy. I can do this anytime, but when I started doing it myself, I was like, oh. I was wrong.’ It took me about two, three months to pick up the basics and then, over the years, I developed my own techniques, my own way to do it.” Now, here he is, 19 years later continuing to help public safety officers look and feel their best.

After an extended and potentially dangerous squabble over which agency is better equipped to handle air rescues, Orange County fire and sheriff’s officials said Wednesday they’ve come up with a plan that emphasizes teamwork and will enable safer and more efficient emergency responses.

First Responders and Law Enforcement Week at the OC Fair takes place from August 8-12. Free admission is being offered to active-duty and professional staff of the police, sheriff, fire and emergency services departments.