With much of California under excessive heat watches and warnings, our California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) public safety professionals are gearing up for a busy weekend and Fourth of July week ahead.  Many of them will be out in the excessive heat as well and must take precautions so that they can provide safety for others.

 The triple digit heat forecasted for numerous  days with little relief at night has CSLEA members at the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA)  planning for heat-related problems, emergencies and cooling centers.  

"When the thermometer rises that high, so do the problems that our public safety professionals deal with," said CSLEA President Alan Barcelona.  "We expect our CHP public safety dispatchers will be busy with 911 calls, along with our communications operators at Cal Fire and State Parks.  Our firefighters, arson investigators, park rangers, and lifeguards will be busy as well.   We hope that everyone plays it safe during the extreme heat, but we know from experience, emergency calls increase due to fires, drowning and heat exhaustion."

"This is a very busy time of year for us and I'm extremely proud of our members," said Bill Bondshu, president of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Services Association (FMESA).  FMESA is one of 18 affiliates under the umbrella of CSLEA. "We do a tremendous  job of coming together when a crisis arises to mitigate the situation as quickly as possible.  Not only are we asking Californians to play it safe, we want our public safety professionals to be safe as well."