This home received a Wildfire Prepared Home Designation Certificate.
When Janet Jackson moved to Oak Park from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in 1998, she unwittingly began the process of hardening her home against California’s destructive wildfires.
Jackson’s father, John Kachuta, a contractor, convinced her to replace the vinyl gate on the side of the house to metal. Next came the removal of the backyard wood lattice. When it was time to install a lap pool, the wood fencing above the concrete wall between her and her neighbor’s property was switched to metal as well.
Jackson’s corner home abuts Churchwood Drive in the Hillcrest area of Oak Park. When Jackson bought the home, redwood fencing flanked the side of the home that faced the street, a material that Jackson switched out to metal as well.
The simple, modern design that Jackson loved turned out to be the perfect foil for the 2018 Woolsey Fire that raged through her neighborhood, destroying several homes, including homes directly across the street, one immediately located behind her property and several others.
Italian Cyprus trees routinely used in landscaping throughout Jackson’s neighborhood—and really throughout Southern California—proved to be the ignition for fire to explode and spread from home to home throughout the area. Italian Cypress are tall, slender, fast-growing evergreens that grow up to 60 feet or more. The trees are drought tolerant, but firefighters call them Roman candles for a reason. The shoots and leaves of the trees produce essential oils, yet the inside of the trees hide dried and dead material, making it a perfect “candle” to ignite into a fire that sends embers flying.
Jackson’s home was spared in the Woolsey fire, but the smoke damaged all of her furniture beyond repair and she had to relocate for nearly two years before her home was livable again after so much smoke damage. The terror she felt of being trapped in her home as fire scorched her neighbor’s homes and the hillside outside her window will never be forgotten, she said.
Jackson’s outdoor décor features hard-scape with cactus, rocks, and an abundance of metal sculptures that add whimsy while protecting her property. The seat cushions on her metal chairs are always brought indoors during fire season. She also recommends using scrub oak in landscaping since the tree actually traps embers.
Jackson’s prescient preparation before the fire struck certainly helped keep her home standing. In addition to changing out vinyl gates and fencing to metal, she removed four palm trees and made sure all landscaping was five feet away from the entire perimeter of her home.
“I had very little that could catch fire,” she said.
Eucalyptus and pine trees, however, are very flammable, and in Jackson’s opinion, should be outlawed in fire country. She contacted the Ventura County Supervisor’s office to discuss the outlawing of these trees, but the answer was no, probably due to a variety of ownership laws.
Jackson went the extra mile in fire protection for the entire area by raising funds to pay for a herd of goats to eat the dried brush on the nearby hillside. She personally raised $18,000 to pay for the service. The Homeowner’s Association was not authorized to help defray costs because the hillside is not HOA property. But Jackson believes that the Imminent Danger clause in the HOA contract might be able to override that condition.
Jackson contacted Madronus Wildfire Defense (https://madronus.com/). The company offers remote and in-person consultations as well as final inspections. “They are worth their weight in gold,” Jackson said. Jackson’s hard work earned her the sought-after Wildfire Prepared Home Designation Certificate (https://wildfireprepared.org/). She also recommends BrandGuard Vents since the recommended 1/8-inch vents also withstand 95-per-mile wind, which helps keep smoke out of homes.
In the end, 17 homes in the Hillcrest area alone were either destroyed or damaged in the Woolsey Fire. Other neighbors have not heeded the horrors of the Woolsey Fire. One home was never rebuilt and the lot is now severely overgrown, and others still have landscaping and flammable trees danger right next to their homes, which worries Jackson as Oak Park readies itself for yet another fire season.
