Central Ventura County Fire Safe Council

VENTURA REGIONAL FIRE SAFE COUNCIL IS A GRASSROOTS, COMMUNITY-LED ORGANIZATION THAT MOBILIZES RESIDENTS TO PROTECT THEIR HOMES, COMMUNITIES, AND ENVIRONMENTS FROM CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRE, THROUGH COLLABORATIVE PLANNING, PROGRAMS, MITIGATION AND EDUCATION.

THE CVCFSC IMPLEMENTED THE FOLLOWING COMPLEX, MULTI-PARTNER, COUNTYWIDE WILDFIREPREVENTION PROGRAMS IN 2023:I. FACILITATED OVER 75 EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS, WEBINARS, TOWN HALL MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY, WITH OVER 3,000 COMMUNITY MEMBERS REACHED. WEVE BEEN IN THE NEWS, TOO! WE WERE FEATURED IN THE VENTURA COUNTY REPORTER, VENTURA COUNTY STAR, KCLU, OJAI VALLEY NEWS, AND MAINTAINED OUR PRESENCE ACROSS OTHER VARIOUS PRINT AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. TO INCREASE INCLUSION AND EQUITY IN WILDFIRE PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS, WE ORGANIZED EDUCATION, OUTREACH, AND TRAINING PROGRAMS IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH. II. COMPLETED OVER 300 HOME HARDENING ASSESSMENTS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY. HOME HARDENING ADDRESSES THE MOST VULNERABLE COMPONENTS OF YOUR HOME WITH BUILDING MATERIALS AND INSTALLATION TECHNIQUES THAT INCREASE RESISTANCE TO HEAT, FLAME, AND EMBER INTRUSION THAT OCCUR DURING MOST WILDFIRES. IN JUST A FEW STEPS, RESIDENTS IN VENTURA COUNTY CAN LEARN HOW TO DRASTICALLY LOWER THEIR HOME'S VULNERABILITY TO WILDFIRES BY SCHEDULING OUR TEAM TO CONDUCT AN INITIAL ASSESSMENT OF THEIR HOMES. III. EQUIPPED FOURTEEN HOMES WITH RETROFITS TO HARDEN THEIR HOME AGAINST WILDFIRE. IN 2023 VRFSC OFFERED OPPORTUNITIES TO ASSIST QUALIFIED VENTURA COUNTY RESIDENTS WITH EXPENSES AND WORK RELATED TO FIRE SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS TO THEIR HOMES. THESE RETROFITS CAN INCLUDE UPGRADING TO EMBER-RESISTANT VENTS, CLEARING LEAF DEBRIS, REMOVING HAZARDOUS VEGETATION, AND MORE. WE LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING THIS PROGRAM IN 2024. IV. IN A COLLABORATIVE ENDEAVOR INVOLVING COMMUNITY LEADERS, LOCAL FIRE SAFE COUNCILS, AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS, THE VENTURA REGIONAL FIRE SAFE COUNCIL HAS PLAYED A PIVOTAL ROLE IN FACILITATING THE RECOGNITION OF SIX FIREWISE NEIGHBORHOODS. DEMONSTRATING OUR COMMITMENT TO WILDFIRE RESILIENCE, VRFSC HAS GUIDED FOUR NEW COMMUNITIES IN ACHIEVING FIREWISE STATUS AND IS ACTIVELY ASSISTING TWO OTHERS IN THE RENEWAL PROCESS. THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT UNDERSCORES OUR DEDICATION TO FOSTERING SAFER ENVIRONMENTS AND STRENGTHENING WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS ACROSS VENTURA COUNTY. V. THE VENTURA REGIONAL FIRE SAFE COUNCIL WAS REGONIZED BY THE VENTURA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS WITH A PROCLAMATION FOR OUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE VENTURA COUNTY COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN, ALONG WITH SEVEN ADDITIONAL LOCALIZED PLANS (BELL CANYON, FILLMORE, OAK PARK, PIRU, RANCHO VENTURA CONSERVATION TRUST, SANTA PAULA, AND THE VENTURA LAND TRUST). OUR EFFORTS AIM AT ENHANCING VENTURA COUNTY'S RESILIENCE AND PREPAREDNESS AGAINST WILDFIRES, FOSTERING A SAFER AND MORE SECURE COMMUNITY. VI. PROVIDED TWO 8-HOUR COURSES FOR HIRED VENDOR INCIDENT SAFETY AWARENESS. THESE COURSES SUPPORT VENDORS THAT CONTRACT FOR SERVICE DURING MAJOR WILDFIRE INCIDENTS. THE COURSES WERE TAUGHT BY WOODY BOUSKA WITH SURE-FIRE TRAINING, INC. AND THERE WERE 45 PARTICIPANTS.VII. THROUGH OUR RESIDENT GRANT PROGRAM, VENTURA REGIONAL FIRE SAFE COUNCIL OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES TO ASSIST VENTURA COUNTY RESIDENTS IN NEED WITH EXPENSES AND WORK RELATED TO WILDFIRE SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS TO THEIR HOMES. SPECIFICALLY, FOR ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS, DEFENSIBLE SPACE CLEARANCE AND HOME MODIFICATIONS AND RETROFITS CAN BE OFFERED AT NO COST TO THE RESIDENT.