Safety is top of mind as Roar Offshore boat races set to kick off on Fort Myers Beach

Many of the boats for the Roar Offshore National Championship Powerboat Races have already arrived at the Race Village.

Not only are organizers preparing for the competition itself, but they’re also taking steps to ensure safety ahead of the big weekend.

Nate Hunt is a competitor and is ready to face the waves at full speed, “Looks like the competition is going to be pretty good.”

His team was one of the first to arrive at the Race Village ahead of the big weekend.

Dave Olson came all the way from Louisiana to catch a glimpse of the powerboats, and he’s been preparing all year, “I’ve been following boat races for a while, and when I heard they were coming to Fort Myers! I come here very often. I’m really excited.”

Olson will be among the thousands of people on Fort Myers Beach this weekend.

With more people comes more safety precautions, and that’s where the Fort Myers Beach Fire Department comes in.

“Any time you have a large concentration of people in a relatively small geographical area –you’ve got to plan for all of the unknowns,” said Fort Myers Beach Fire Marshall Ronald Martin, “from a routine heart attack to someone getting a bad batch of hamburgers to a structure fire to a major structure fire occurring at the heart of the event.”

Another big priority is traffic.

Martin encourages people coming to the events to use public transportation.

The fire department will be on both land and water to make sure everything runs smoothly.

He says they’ll have “water assets both near the racecourse, along with the event sponsors, dive teams, and their rescue boats.”

The fire department is also stressing the importance of hydration, and they’ll have plenty of water available.

Public safety organizations will be all along the beach on golf carts, just to make sure everyone is cared for.

The festivities will last throughout the weekend. For complete event details and times visit roaroffshore.com.