September was a very busy month for the Oak Park Fire Safe Council (OPFSC). Along with our annual townhall, we have begun the Firewise process with several HOA’s, and we continue to do more and more assessments for our homeowners. Accomplishments this month included:
The third annual townhall at the Oak Park Community Center.
- Ventura County Supervisor Jeff Gorell kicked the evening off, sharing his experience with wildfire before handing things over to keynote speaker Larry Williams from the Ventura County Fire Department. Williams spoke about current fire conditions and updated the crowd on recent and upcoming fire- related regulations that impact homeowners. Max Young of the Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council spoke about Firewise, the requirements and the process a community must navigate to become Firewise recognized. Jay Fernandez and Doug Wilson from OPFSC updated everyone on recent developments and shared the website and resources that are available to the community. Finally, there was a lively open forum with many questions from community members.
- Firewise Communities – This month we had three HOA communities (Canyon Cove, Country Glen and Country Meadows) begin the Firewise process. In each community, several people had gotten together to drive the program, which will benefit residents with improved wildfire resiliency (protection of property and life); helping them qualify, or stay qualified, for homeowners’ insurance; and possible discounts for both community participation (Firewise) and individual improvements that homeowners make to their structures and defensible space (yards).
- Assessments – More and more homeowners are requesting free home wildfire assessments, which can benefit both communities working to become Firewise recognized and individual homeowners looking to improve wildfire resiliency and may also reduce insurance rates. The assessments are recommendations only (the council is not a compliance organization), but they provide an improvement blueprint and can help residents in their discussions with insurance companies.
- Ventura County Wildfire Collaborative – This month, the council joined the Ventura County Wildfire Collaborative, an organization composed of the Ventura County Resource Conservation District and all of the fire safe councils in Ventura County. This is an exciting opportunity to combine efforts as we apply for grants for both homeowner education programs like Firewise and fuel-mitigation projects around Ventura County, including Oak Park.
- Donations – With our new website, we implemented a donation button for residents who want to contribute to our cause and in September collected approximately $1,700 in donations that will augment our continuing grant efforts and help us become a safer community. Thank you to all who contributed!
In addition to these highlights, we continue to welcome and engage new volunteers in a variety of roles. We look forward to a busy October.
