YORK, Pa. — Thousands of people are expected to head to the York Fairgrounds this week for the annual York State Fair. Ahead of the crowds, fair officials say guest safety is their top priority.
At least five law enforcement agencies will be part of security at the fair, including York State Fair’s private police department, as well as multiple EMS and fire departments.
“We have officers from all of those departments all over the grounds,” said York State Fair CEO Bryan Blair. “You walk around and you’ll see two officers at a time. At any given time there’s a large presence of police.”
Guests said in light of several mass shootings across the country in recent months, security is especially important at large events.
“I don’t know what kind of [things] people are bringing in,” said Scott Brewer, of Shippensburg. "You got these shootings or whatever. I like to be prepared for things like that."
Fair securities applies to vendors as well as guests. The York State Fair Fire Department does daily inspections of all vendors, including making sure all food vendors have a fire extinguisher. That requirement helped mitigate an incident on Sunday morning.
“There was a flash fire at one of the vendor’s tents,” said department supervisor Roy Gentzler. “They were able to put it out on their own, and that’s why we require them to have fire extinguishers.”
Fair officials say unfortunately, they have to be prepared for anything.
“The one thing that we stress to people is that old adage that’s been used for years: if you see something, say something,” Blair said.
You can read more about safety and security procedures at the York State Fair on the official fair website.