Crescenta Valley Fire Safe Council is neighbors helping neighbors. We are a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit corporation staffed solely by volunteers. Our organization was timely established by Roger Young and Steve Pierce shortly before the Station Fire in 2009. Our mission is to help our neighbors in the urban wildlife interface area known as Briggs Terrace prepare for and recover from forest fires. As “CV Ready” we also help make our neighborhood more resilient from earthquakes and other natural disasters.
After the Station Fire, we successfully lobbied for a culvert that diverted the watershed that was flowing down Canyonside Road back into Pickens Canyon. A FEMA grant allowed us to participate in a study of how neighborhoods can best recover from natural disasters. Other grants have allowed us to furnish a communications, emergency trailer that can be mobilized in response to a forest fire, earthquake or other disaster. With the cooperation of the Crescenta Valley Water District, we set up and maintain a storage container in Briggs Terrace with emergency supplies for our community to use when an earthquake or other natural disaster hits our neighborhood. We lobbied for grants that reduced fuel in our neighboring wildlands. We work with Foresters from the Los Angeles County Fire Department to perform home hardening inspections for residents. Along with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and Sheriff, we sponsored wildfire evacuation drills for Briggs Terrace and Paradise Canyon. We currently are exploring the placement of wildfire alarm sirens in Briggs Terrace. And for 10 years we have sponsored the annual Briggs Terrace Potluck Dinner and clean-up day, where residents get to better know their neighbors.
CVFSC’s officers are: Brian Ray Hodge, President; Don Ross, Vice President; Jean Maluccio, Treasurer; and Dan Limonadi, Secretary. Other CVFSC Board Members are Roger Young, Steve Pierce, Mary O’Keefe, Steve Turner, and Judy Turner. We welcome other community volunteers to help us with our projects.