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Rancho Palos Verdes wildfire resource event urges homeowners to harden properties and offers vendor, agency support
Summary
Organizers and public-safety agencies at a Rancho Palos Verdes wildfire resource event urged residents to create defensible space, consider low-cost home-hardening measures and use available state and local grants; vendors demonstrated ember-resistant mesh and portable pumps and Los Angeles County Fire staff reviewed basic extinguisher training.
Maria So opened the Rancho Palos Verdes wildfire resource event at the UCLA South Bay campus and urged residents to take practical steps to reduce wildfire risk to their homes and neighborhoods. "You can be the fire break," she said, urging people to sign up for Alert South Bay and to clear the first five feet around their houses.
Organizers said the RPV Council of Homeowners Associations (CHOA) partnered with the city and UCLA South Bay to bring vetted vendors and public-safety information to the peninsula. A CHOA representative said the event also connected residents with information on state and local grants for home-hardening work.
Vendors demonstrated products and approaches for homeowners. One vendor described upgrading attic and eave screening from quarter-inch rodent mesh to a 1/16-inch stainless-steel ember-resistant mesh, saying the finer mesh "blocks 98% of embers." Another vendor described Waterax portable pumps that can use a backyard pool as a suction source to deliver water to a home's sprinkler heads, calling the pumps a "micro fire engine" that homeowners can operate if municipal resources are constrained.
A separate vendor explained automated whole-home sprinkler systems and pool-hookup backups that can be activated manually or remotely; the speaker said the systems are designed to run only during fire incidents so as not to interrupt everyday water use. Organizers noted many products demonstrated at the event have undergone review by the state fire marshal for sale to the public.
Kaylin, community services liaison for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, demonstrated basic extinguisher technique and reminded attendees of the PASS steps: "pull, aim, squeeze and sweep." Sergeant Tina McCoy of the Lumita Sheriff Station described the sheriff station's role in evacuations and traffic control and said residents should know the difference between an evacuation warning and an evacuation order. McCoy also said the Red Cross disaster action team responds to support families after home fires.
Representatives from West Basin Municipal Water District promoted water-conservation rebates (including grass-removal programs), free classes and tours of the district's water recycling facility, and said the district has rotated educational offerings across peninsula cities. Event organizers said they hired Douglas Kent to teach fire-escaping classes; speakers described Kent as an author and instructor on fire-resistant landscaping.
Presenters stressed that relatively low-cost steps—clearing combustibles near the home, maintaining gutters, hardening eaves and installing ember-resistant screening—can markedly improve a house's ability to withstand fire. The event closed with demonstrations, giveaways of emergency kits and a reminder to visit rpvca.gov for more information.
The event combined vendor demonstrations, agency presentations and practical guidance rather than formal actions; no motions or votes were recorded.
