Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council

VRFSC is now hiring for a Fuels & Chipper Coordinator as well as an Operations Assistant! Please help us find the right candidate by sharing with your contacts.

See the links below for the listings on Indeed.

Fuels & Chipper Coordinator
https://www.indeed.com/job/nonprofit-fuels-chipper-coordinator-972542d7e8154f3d?_gl=1*15r6izr*_gcl_au*MTI3MjI3MzExNy4xNzE5NTE4MzA0*_ga*MTAwMzU5MjgxNS4xNzE5NTE4Mjcw*_ga_5KTMMETCF4*MTcxOTUyMDY2Mi4yLjEuMTcxOTUyNTI2NC42MC4wLjA

Operations Assistant
https://www.indeed.com/job/nonprofit-operations-assistant-c0b829c23640842e?_gl=1*6jvo4n*_gcl_au*MTI3MjI3MzExNy4xNzE5NTE4MzA0*_ga*MTAwMzU5MjgxNS4xNzE5NTE4Mjcw*_ga_5KTMMETCF4*MTcxOTUyMDY2Mi4yLjEuMTcxOTUyNTI2NC42MC4wLjA.*_fplc*VlhGUHJUMHA4Zkc4eFdEJTJCayUyQlduWWg0OVRZOSUyRnl0U3RIT0RNY0JjSElDJTJCOURucU4zV0E1MFVlc1diT2F5Y3glMkY1dkhwTURGUHVheUpranJBMWRqbDRNNWdnQmt4ZjRQNkpDbVpzdG1DalQwRDB0THVKaU1WUlhrMURUZGV4dyUzRCUzRA

We are an equal opportunity employer and these listings will stay open until positions are filled.

Awesome shoutout about some of the work we recently did with the help of Ventura County Fire Department! Also mentions our works with Firewise communities like Golden Oaks in Ojai! Thanks for the article Southern California Edison (SCE)

Ventura Residents Take On Wildfire Preparedness Backed up against miles of overgrown wildlands on the Ventura River sits around 100 mobile homes. They're nestled in an area that is no stranger to the dangers of wildfire ...

Our June Firewise USA Workshop is out now! This month's topic was on Outreach and Engagement. Thank you, as always, to Larry Williams from Ventura County Fire Department for being present at our workshops to help answer questions during our Q&A section.

Want to join the live workshops? We host these on the 3rd Friday of every month at 1PM! Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvcOGpqTMvGNTyWa0MZSCN91J6KgzCdE4c #/registration

View the June Workshop here:
https://youtu.be/A0xjJG_FF9s?si=daxOoGkihdK6XBwH

Outreach and Engagement throughout the Firewise USA® Process The Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council hosts a monthly live workshop over Zoom to help residents with the Firewise USA® process and how to get the recognitio...

ATTENTION: Happening tomorrow!

The County of Ventura Human Services Agency (HSA) Team has engaged CONSTANT Associates to conduct listening sessions across Ventura County to hear from individuals, local government agencies, businesses, community, faith-based, and advocacy organizations about the challenges encountered by older adults, people with disabilities, people with limited English proficiency, etc. in all stages of disasters.

RSVP at the link below:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/listening-session-thousand-oaks-tickets-919102940637?aff=oddtdtcreator

The recent along LA and Ventura County Lines happened during a red flag warning period.

"Red Flag Warnings are issued by the National Weather Service to notify fire agencies in advance of critical weather patterns that will contribute to extreme fire danger and/or extreme fire behavior... Note that hot, dry days will not have a Red Flag Warning unless sustained wind is also present." (NPS)

To finish out Wildfire Awareness Month, we'd like to just remind our communities that the Fire Safe Council works diligently year-round to support our firefighters and first responders in the way of preparedness. We must be prepared to lessen the burden that our local emergency personnel have to bare when they respond to wildfires that threaten our neighborhood. Thanks to the folks at Fire Aside, we were able to track some of the work we did last year and know we did our best to help educate on wildfire preparedness and reduce the potential hazardous fuel.

Ventura County Fire Department
Ventura Fire Department
Piru Wildfire Prevention/Education

Expanded high-tech upgrades improve PSPS decision-making, reduce outage times and impact fewer customers. Most of all, it helps us be prepared for wildfire.

SCE's Wildfire Mitigation Plan outlines actions they are making to lower the risk of wildfires associated with electrical systems in high fire risk areas. Some of these actions include strengthening the grid, conducting inspections on equipment, vegetation management, improved monitoring and further risk assessments, and many more.

You can learn about all of the work being done by visiting
https://www.sce.com/wildfire/wildfire-mitigation-efforts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra9PgGVcuxA

SCE Adds Weather Stations, HD Cameras Ahead of Wildfire Season Expanded high-tech upgrades improve PSPS decision-making, reduce outage times and impact fewer customers.Paul Roller and his team of Southern California Edis...

To complete their application, the KenCrest Ridge community worked closely with the CAL FIRE – Office of the State Fire Marshal’s Firewise Liaison, the Ventura County Fire Department, and the Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council.
“The process of working together to accomplish the goals and objectives of our 3-Year Action Plan has a continuous bonding affect among our homeowners. That bonding affect is like combustible material,” said Mario Contini, “in this case, instead of a spark igniting a fire that damages life and property, it will ignite a fire under each of us to do our part for our own safety and that of our neighbors. It’s the socially responsible thing to do.”

Members of Ventura County Fire Department's Wildland Crew #12 assisted the Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council with a Drive-By Chipping Event in the Moorpark Home Acres Community.

In total, about 37 cubic yards of vegetation was chipped.
This vegetation management program reduces the flammable fuel load and increases w**d abatement activities in this area that borders a wildland-urban interface threat zone.

For more information, visit: venturafiresafe.org/chipper

Our favorite kind of events are the ones that get us outside and help us make friends in the community while we all learn about wildfire safety together. Thank you for helping us coordinate the Fire Ecology Hike! Thank you to and for showing support, giving input, and collaborating with us. Lastly, thank you for donating the raffle prizes for the event! We can't wait to host another future event like this soon!

Photos by Ventura County Fire Department

We are excited to announce the newest addition to the VRFSC Team! Mason Thurmond has joined Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council as the new Programs Manager!

Mason has joined the VRFSC team after serving as the Resource Conservation Coordinator at Ventura County Resource Conservation District and the Lead of the Ventura County Wildfire Collaborative, which is a working group that includes VRFSC. Last year, she had the honor of planning and hosting the inaugural California Wildfire Conference in October 2023 and launching the Ventura County Wildfire Coordinating Group.

Mason is excited to join Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council because of the enthusiasm and expertise the VRFSC team holds; they have been able to work with an amazing number of residents and communities in Ventura County, and these community members will be the first to share how important the Fire Safe Council's impact has been to them. While she takes time off from making Ventura County more fire safe, Mason loves botanizing with pals, swimming in Ventura County's beautiful springtime rivers, dancing, and hiking with her German Shepherd-Cocker Spaniel-mutt mix (yes, that's a real combo), Jasper.

Read Mason's full bio on our Meet Our Team page on our website at VenturaFireSafe.org

As the weather becomes warmer and wildland vegetation, or fuels, begin to dry out, it is time to plan for the wildfires.

Help reduce putting firefighters and communities at risk by hardening your home to ember intrusion and creating defensible space on private property.

Learn more about and prepare by signing up for VRFSC programs that help make a more resilient Ventura County by visiting VenturaFireSafe.org

's Wildfire Mitigation Plan outlines actions they are making to lower the risk of wildfires associated with electrical systems in high fire risk areas. Some of these actions include strengthening the grid, conducting inspections on equipment, vegetation management, improved monitoring and further risk assessments, and many more. You can learn about all of the work being done by visiting https://www.sce.com/wildfire/wildfire-mitigation-efforts

The newest recorded workshop for the Firewise USA® program is up on our YouTube channel!

This month, we invited a representative from United Policyholders to speak and answer questions to issues regarding homeowners' insurance.

If you are going through the Firewise USA® process for your neighborhood and would like to give us some suggestions on what you would like to see from our workshops next, please fill out the following form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5QsqCQy61zQGpJtOXZPY4h3AWMjzTiCkYcD-rkJXcEcw-Kg/viewform

Full video link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CB6z3w6M8s&list=PLzsnnc7cZABe9zyEq9hJnYyvuaIPTFnBG&index=4

Hot Topic: Insurance and Firewise USA® Communities The Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council hosts a monthly live workshop over Zoom to help residents with the Firewise USA® process and how to get the recognitio...

We are honored to be a part of this Collaborative!

Happy Earth Day, Ventura County! VCCF is so proud to announce that we have been awarded $1,000,000 in support of the Environmental Workforce Collaborative in partnership with The CREW - Concerned Resource & Environmental Workers, Safe Passage Youth Foundation, Santa Monica Mountains Fund, Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council, and Los Padres ForestWatch!

This Collaborative was made possible by funding from Edison International.

Read more here about this exciting new Collaborative bit.ly/3Ud9Akp

Join the Ventura Land Trust and the Ventura Regional Fire Safe council on a hike from 3-5PM on Friday, May 3rd! A guided "hike" will take place at 3:30. There is limited availability as we need to take care of the trails!

VRFSC will table and speak on VRFSC programs as it relates to resident/homeowner involvement in wildfire preparedness. Ventura City and Ventura County Fire Department will table and speak on Ventura City’s involvement in wildfire preparedness and touch on Thomas Fire impact / lessons learned. Patagonia will have some prizes that participants have a chance to win.

Must reserve, limited space available- Join us for a walk around Harmon canyon to discuss how the landscape adapts and responds to fire.

Thank you to all volunteers for a great day of mitigating risk on the hill 💪🏽💪🏽 “neighbors helping neighbors “ Supervisor Kelly LongVentura Regional Fire Safe Council Piru CA - What's Happening Now

Go team! Jim Kniss, Retired Ventura County GIS Specialist and Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council Secretary spoke about home hardening & defensible space, Firewise Communities, Community Wildfire Protection Plans, and Beacon Boxes (a tool to assist firefighters during fires) at a presentation to the Conejo Simi Moorpark Association of Realtors today. Jim and Board Member President, Andy Ortega addressed topics that are very important in the real estate community. Many homeowners are looking for ways to make their homes and their communities more wildfire resilient and to save on their property insurance. Thank you Jim and Andy!

We are so proud of our Ventura County communities for all of the effort being put forth to make the county safer from wildfires. Congrats to the Thousand Oaks neighborhood of KenCrest Ridge on your recognition!

Calling all who would like to volunteer! The Piru community would like some help reducing their wildfire risk by doing some vegetation maintenance (yard work essentially), so please join Piru Wildfire Prevention/Education and Piru Neighborhood Council, Inc. on Saturday, April 13th starting at 9AM!

“Neighbors helping neighbors “

🔥🌲 Exciting News Alert! 🌲🔥 Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council proudly unveils its new mission statement! We are so excited to have a mission statement that reflects our work and values as an organization! Learn about our programs at venturafiresafe.org.

Happy 1st Day of Hanukkah! As we move through the holidays, here is another Fire Safe tip for Celebrating Safely!

When using a menorah that requires traditional candles, make sure it’s placed on a sturdy surface and in a location that it can’t be easily knocked over. Also, keep the menorah at least 1 foot away from anything that can burn and monitor it carefully - all candles must be blown out when leaving the room or going to sleep.

Ventura County
Firewise USA Communities, have you submitted your volunteer hours for the year?

Remember, neighborhood leaders, that renewal applications are due by Friday, December 15, 2023 if you want to keep "In Good Standing" status!

Hosted by Ondulando Firewise Community

Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 7pm
Poinsettia Pavilion

Join us for a FREE showing of the CAPS Media
documentary, "The Perfect Firestorm," the story of
community residents helping each other in the
wake of the devastating 2017 Thomas Fire.
At the six-year anniversary, this event is a
celebration of our city working together. Learn
how residents are organizing into Firewise
communities to reduce risk from future wildfires
and making our hillside communities stronger and
safer for everyone.

The VRFSC Office will be closed for the holiday starting Thursday 11/23 and we will return on Monday 11/27.
Thank you for your support and Happy Thanksgiving!

[👇 Español 👇] In the midst of some wind-driven events over this week, lets touch preparing for possible Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS).

PREPARE FOR POWER EMERGENCIES

1. Always follow the direction of local law enforcement and firefighters for evacuations and road safety. Know about your city or county’s emergency plans and sign up for available emergency notifications from local agencies.
2. Keep basic necessities on hand — from medical prescriptions to canned goods. Keep a supply of essentials in an easy-to-access location, so you can get to them quickly, even in the dark.
3. If you depend on electrically powered medical equipment, have a backup power source. You may be eligible for SCE’s Medical Baseline Allowance program, which provides electricity at the lowest available rate. Learn about the program and how to apply at sce.com/mbl.
4. To get up to date information during power outages, including emergency as well as maintenance and rotating outages, bookmark sce.com/outagemap on your computer and download the MySCE mobile app on your phone.
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PREPARARSE PARA EMERGENCIAS ENERGÉTICAS

1. Siga siempre las instrucciones de las autoridades locales y de los bomberos para evacuaciones y seguridad. Conozca los planes de emergencia de su ciudad o condado e inscríbase para recibir notificaciones de emergencia disponibles de las agencias locales.
2. Tenga a mano las necesidades básicas, desde recetas médicas hasta productos enlatados. Mantenga un suministro de elementos esenciales en un lugar de fácil acceso, para que pueda acceder a ellos rápidamente, incluso en la oscuridad.
3. Si depende de equipos médicos eléctricos, tenga una fuente de energía de respaldo. Puede ser elegible para el programa Medical Baseline Allowance de SCE, que proporciona electricidad a la tarifa más baja disponible. Obtenga más información sobre el programa y cómo presentar la solicitud en sce.com/es/mbl.
4. Para obtener información actualizada durante cortes de energía, incluidos cortes de emergencia, así como de mantenimiento y rotativos, agregue sce.com/es/outagemap a sus favoritos en su computadora y descargue el aplicación móvil MySCE en su teléfono.

Hope you all had a happy Diwali weekend! During Diwali celebrations, it's never too late to talk about celebrating the holidays in a fire-safe way! Diya’s and candles are an essential part of Diwali decorations. Celebrate safely by placing candles on stable, heat resistant surfaces, away from flammable materials and out of reach of curious pets and children.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Attention resident for the cities of Simi Valley, Moorpark, and Thousand Oaks: Evacuation surveys are out and YOUR input is needed!

When disaster strikes, there is already so much work that goes into planning a safe and smooth transition for residents to evacuate, and make it safely back to their homes. Be a part of that planning process and help your community out!

Please click on the following address to fill it out: https://www.toaks.org/Home/Components/News/News/14851/993?backlist=%2f



City of Thousand Oaks - Local Government
City of Moorpark Government
City of Simi Valley Government