VENTURA COUNTY, CA (9/25/2024) - Residents living in the highest wildfire risk area in Piru, CA have received Firewise USA recognition. To celebrate this national achievement, the Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council (VRFSC) is hosting a 3-Day Community Wildfire Preparedness event starting October 3 through 5 in Piru. The event offers free defensible space assistance to residents within the Firewise USA boundaries. The work includes brush clearance, vegetation removal, gutter cleaning, and other yard work. Piru residents can register now at venturafiresafe.org to reserve their spot.
Wildfires pose a risk to communities like Piru, an unincorporated town along the Santa Clara Valley just below the foothills of the Los Padres National Forest. According to the Piru Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), “the town of Piru has largely been spared from wildfire, although the surrounding hillsides have burned multiple times over and continue to pose a wildfire fuel threat to the community if appropriate precautions are not taken.”

Starting at 10am on October 3rd, crews will be dispatched to registered residences to start the yard work. Resource tables will also be set up to provide residents with emergency preparation information and last call registrations for the event. October 4th will be a continuation of the first day with more defensible space work. On October 5th, VRFSC will bring everyone back to Corazon de Piru Coffee Shop with a celebration to recognize the volunteers and invite the residents to free pizza and free plants from 10am to 2pm.

VRFSC is completing this work with the help of the Environmental Workforce collaborative, which includes the Concerned Resource & Environmental Workers (CREW), Safe Passage Youth Corps, Santa Monica Mountains Fund, Los Padres Forest Watch, Ventura County Community Foundation, and other partners like the Piru Neighborhood Council, Ventura County Resource Conservation District and the Ventura County Fire Department. Funding for this program was made possible by Edison International through the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Environmental Workforce Collaborative and from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program, through the California Fire Safe Council.

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About Ventura Regional 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.