ABOUT THE VENTU PARK FIRE SAFE COUNCIL:

The community of Ventu Park is comprised of approximately 530 homes of which approximately thirty percent are within the City of Thousand Oaks and the remaining are in the unincorporated territory of Ventura County. The Ventu Park Fire Safe Council, Inc. (VPFSC) is a community-based volunteer organization that was incorporated as a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation in 2009. The VPFSC’s main objective is to provide the residents of Ventu Park with information about fire safety including measures that our residents can take to prevent wildfires and to be safe should a fire threaten our community.

The VPFSC Board coordinates with fire and sheriff officials to stay abreast of their latest policies concerning fire safety. We collaborate with other local fire safe councils, and schedule community wide meetings held at the historic Stage Coach Museum. In addition to Ventu Park residents, the meetings are attended by representatives of the fire department and staff from other city and county departments involved in fire safety.

The VPFSC sends out periodic newsletters to Ventu Park residents (see example below), collaborates with other fire safe councils in the area, and hosts brush clearance disposal events. Further, the VPFSC has organized a “Fire Safe Fair” where representatives of the fire department and staff from the US Forest Service and non-governmental organizations (NGO) spoke with residents about fire safety. A second Fire Safe Fair is contemplated in the upcoming months.

The signs at our community’s entrances regarding parking during periods of high winds are placed by the VPFSC at the behest of the fire department. The signs are posted at the intersections of Lynn Road and Newbury Lane, Lynn Road and Ventu Park Road, and Lynn Road and Heavenly Valley Road. The fire department initiated the idea of these signs urging off-road parking on Red Flag Days to allow for safe ingress and egress of emergency and resident vehicles in the event of a fire emergency.

In 2020, as part of Southern California Edison’s Safety & Preparedness Community Outreach Program, VPFSC was awarded a $5,000 grant. With those funds, to-date, the Council has recently sent out a newsletter to all homes in Ventu Park, is in the process of creating and refining this VPFSC website, and compiling residents’ email addresses to better communicate with neighbors. VPFSC is currently planning another community meeting, and also considering the next Fire Safe Fair, which would also include representatives who would speak to materials and tools residents could use in hardening their homes, and fire resistant plantscapes. VPFSC is also interested in developing a home hardening program for the Ventu Park community.

Volunteers Needed:

The Ventu Park Fire Safe Council is always interested in gaining members of our community to become involved in our activities. We need people who could work on grant writing, hand out flyers, prepare newsletters, maintain our website, post signs, and above all, give us new ideas on how we can make Ventu Park a fire safe community.

How can you volunteer for the Ventu Park Fire Safe Council? If you would like to volunteer, provide the council with your contact information via email at Information@VPFS.ORG and one of the volunteers will be in touch with you.

Volunteers are needed for the following committees:

o Grant Applications
o Publicity
o Maintaining Mailing & Email List

Preparation and maintenance of this website is funded by Southern California Edison (SCE) as part of their 2020 Safety & Preparedness Community Outreach program