OPFSC February 2025 Update

Message From the Oak Park Fire Safe Council 

As we reflect on the recent devastation that swept through Los Angeles and Ventura County cities and towns, it’s important to remember that this tragedy will affect those impacted by the January fires for years to come. We’d like to extend our heartfelt condolences to all the people in Altadena, Castaic, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, and surrounding communities, who have been affected and encourage everyone to donate what you can to help ease their suffering.

For many of us, these fires are a reminder of the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which torched our local mountains and burned many of our homes to the ground. We are also reminded of the horrible loss of an Oak Park resident and his mother who died while they were trapped in Malibu during the Woolsey Fire.

These fire-related catastrophes continue to strengthen our resolve to work hand-in-hand with the residents of Oak Park and local government entities to help protect our community. This includes offering free, recommended, home-hardening assessments which make suggestions to residents on how to improve their homes’ fire resilience at their own pace. Additionally, our website is filled with tools to help residents work together to become Firewise-recognized communities, designed to help protect our homes and neighborhoods, and could potentially lower our home insurance rates.

We’d also like to acknowledge our brave first responders and firefighters, who did a heroic job to help keep us safe. Their work to quickly contain the nearby Kenneth Fire and limit its damage to a little more than 1,000 acres, in particular, resonates with our community.

Here are our major activities and accomplishments in January:

Firewise

  • The recent fires in Los Angeles and Ventura counties have brought a reenergized commitment to our goals as your Oak Park Fire Safe Council.
  • We are happy to announce our most recently recognized Firewise community, Mae Boyer East. The Mae Boyer East community, shown in the map below, joins Canyon Cove, Country Glen, Country Meadows 2, Morrison/Sutton, and Regency/Chambord as designated Firewise communities. John Faucher and Lori Gunn, who are both on the board of the Oak Park Fire Safe Council, serve as the May Boyer East co-captains.
  • There will be a Zoom meeting on February 1st at 10 am to discuss what it means to be a Firewise community and how it can personally benefit you regarding home protection and your insurance. We invite all residents of Oak Park to join us.
    The credentials to join the meeting: Meeting ID 473 005 7357; Passcode 830754.

Assessments

  • In light of the recent fires, we are getting more than the usual number of requests for home hardening assessments. We are currently in the process of onboarding more assessors, some of who are current or past firefighters to assist with this effort. If you are interested in being trained to become an assessor please contact us at [email protected]
  • We will pay for your training and you will receive a stipend for each assessment you do.

Marketing

  • Our newsletter now has almost 1,000 subscribers. We encourage you to invite your Oak Park friends and family to sign up so we can share resources and create a more collaborative effort toward protecting our community.

Fundraising and Grants

  • We were fortunate to have received a very generous donation from an Oak Park resident specifically for home hardening efforts in all of Oak Park. Additionally, we’d like to find a way to direct funding towards helping the disabled and the elderly during a fire. On becoming a Firewise-recognized community, Mae Boyer East received a grant from the Ventura County Fire Safe Council. Some of that money is being used to advertise the upcoming Zoom meeting. If you are interested in donating to the Oak Park Fire Safe Council’s efforts, there is a place to do so on our website.

Volunteer

  • We have received interest from several Oak Park residents and will be contacting those folks in the coming weeks. We welcome enthusiastic people who are interested in supporting our community!
    Please reach out to [email protected] if you are interested in working with us.
Scroll to Top