Weeding Out Danger : County officials say removing brush and other potential fire hazards is the best way to prevent disaster.

When it comes to saving homes from brush fires, it all comes down to a simple formula for Ventura County firefighters.

“If people clear out their yards and provide us with a defensible space, then we can usually save their house,” said Dean Dysart, captain of the Mountain Meadows Fire Station in Moorpark.

“But if they don’t, we have to wait for the fire to go by and worry about the next house. If people want us to commit to defending their homes, then they have to give us something to work with.”

It’s fire season--a time when firefighters are on increased alert for brush fires that can quickly devastate a wide swath of land. This winter’s heavy rains fueled the growth of dense brush--making the county more susceptible to wildfires.

It’s also a time when residents in wildfire areas must make their own preparations by cleaning out hazardous brush and vegetation from their property. More than 18,000 county residents received notices in the mail in April to comply with county fire ordinances by June 1 by clearing away brush, wild grass, dead tree limbs and anything else that can easily catch fire within 100 feet of homes.

Not only is compliance the law, it’s also the best way to ensure residents’ homes will be left standing when brush fires--fueled by dry air and east winds--whip their way across fire-prone Ventura County.

“Removing the brush creates a defensible space so that your house will survive,” said Mary Blair, fire prevention officer for Los Padres National Forest, who said the fire season officially began Monday.

“With a good perimeter, a wildfire can be fended off with a few people and a garden hose.”

With just one firetruck for every 800 homes in California, defending one’s own home is a reality during large fires, Blair said. “Each year, more and more people build homes, but the number of firemen is the same,” she said. “They can’t be everywhere at once.”

So it’s better to be prepared, Blair said. “It’s time to take a good look around your home and look for things that could carry the fire onto your roof. A prudent person should clear even more than 100 feet. We want your house to survive, and this is one way to protect it.”

Brush clearing is mandatory, and if property owners fail to comply, the county does it for them--at a price.

“We only get about 230 property owners a year that don’t comply,” county Fire Marshal Kevin Nestor said. “And they’re charged by the cubic yard of clearing, plus $221 in administrative costs.”

But most people comply, which is one reason the county has such a good record when it comes to saving homes from wildfires. Typically, fewer than a handful of homes are destroyed by wildfires each year, Nestor said.

However, the disastrous Green Meadow fire claimed 30 homes in October, 1993--a figure that could have been in the hundreds if not for the county fire prevention program, Nestor added.

Dysart of Moorpark is also proud of the county’s fire prevention record.

“As a result of the program, we lose very few homes when there is a major fire,” Dysart said. “I’ve seen fires in other counties where the flames jump from rooftop to rooftop, and cars melt down to their axles.

“It’s so frustrating knowing it could have been prevented. But if the fire is already up against the house, there’s nothing we can do. We need space to fight it, and clearing away brush gives us that space.”

Abdul Wakil isn’t taking any chances. He received the county’s notice and spent three hours Monday morning clearing out wild grass from his Thousand Oaks home.

“I feel much safer now,” Wakil said. “The last fires were very scary, and I’d rather be prepared.”