The heat is on, but your home doesn’t need to be a tinderbox. The Ojai Valley Fire Safe Council will host an open house on Friday, Sept. 9, from 5 to 7 p.m. at its office, 201 Bryant St. The open house will feature free food and drinks, plus guest appearances by baby goats.

Email RSVPs to kalli@firesafeojai.org. For more information, visit www.firesafeojai.org or www.vcrcd.org/vcwc.

Attendees can sign up for a home assessment to learn how to “harden” their home to keep it safe from fires. Attendees will also learn how the OVFSC helps the community prepare for and respond to wildfires.

The event marks the launch of the Home-Hardening Project, a program of the Ventura County Wildfire Collaborative led by the Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council. The OVFSC is partnering with the VRFSC to expand the reach of the countywide project to Ojai. Homeowners are invited to sign up for a home-hardening assessment, in which a liaison will visit to offer recommendations on how to prepare and reduce the risk of your home’s flammability during a wildfire.

The OVFSC will focus its assessments in three areas: Foster Park, Montgomery Street to Shady Lane, and Stewart Canyon. The biggest threat to life and property from a major wildfire event is an ember cast storm, which is wind-carried pieces of burning debris from the flames that can spread for miles. Embers are the main cause of homes catching fire, sometimes long after the passage of the actual fire.

Home hardening is the most effective risk mitigation action people can take to make their homes more resistant to embers. The Home Hardening Project is the first step in a long-term countywide attempt to address home hardening, including the affordability and availability of wildfire insurance.

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