Courtesy Fillmore Fire Department

The Firefighters of your Fillmore City Fire Department would like to invite you to attend a memorial celebration marking the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States, September 11th, 2001. As a nation, we were brought together in tragedy, captivated by the images of destruction, despair, fear, and raw emotion. The only images strong enough to help us cope with such devastation were the amazing images of unity, strangers helping strangers, heroism, and watching America’s front line of public servants run toward the face of danger. We invite you to join us this Saturday morning to remember the civilians, Firefighters, Police Officers, and Military Personnel who perished on that fateful day.

Let us remember the sacrifices made by so many that morning. From the everyday heroes who helped save perfect strangers, to the first responders who walked toward danger in hopes of helping anyone they could, they were all a shining example of how we can easily come together in times of national crisis. We will never forget those brave individuals, and we will never forget September 11th, 2001.

Gathering at the Fillmore Fire Station will start at 6:30am in the front. The American flag will be raised promptly at 6:55am followed by a County-wide radio broadcast of a remembrance.
Fillmore Fire Station 91 is located at 711 Landeros Lane. Refreshments will be served afterwards.

Courtesy FHS Head Football Coach Charlie Weis, M. Ed.

Fillmore Flashes will be celebrating 100 years of Football at FHS with a centennial celebration. Fillmore was one of the first schools to have a football program way back in 1923. To honor this amazing legacy and tradition of excellence at FHS we will be inviting all Flashes Alumni to attend the game with a special VIP section in the north endzone available for Football Alumni in attendance. In addition, the alumni association will be putting together fun activities and events during the game for alumni.

Also they will be holding their annual Youth Night event where all Fillmore youth are invited to attend the game and run onto the field with the Flashes as they take the field during pre-game. Details for youth to participate are: Please join us September 8th, 2023 for our Annual FHS Youth Night at 7pm. Description of event: The youth of Fillmore will get in free with a parent to watch the Varsity game vs. Burbank.

Field Events: 1. The youth will run along the side of Flashes Football as they come onto the field at the beginning of the game.

* Report time and location for football players: 6:30pm on track near the southeast side by the Flashes tunnel.

2. Youth will perform a routine with the Flashes cheerleaders at halftime.

* Report time and location for cheerleaders: 6:45pm on the track near the front of the snack bar.

* Youth cheerleaders will meet on the track 5 minutes before halftime to prep for performance.

* Section of bleachers will be reserved for game viewing.

SONIC® Drive-In is dedicated to getting teachers and students the classroom supplies they need for the new school year. In August, the SONIC Foundation donated $1 million to help fund requests on DonorsChoose, a national nonprofit that allows individuals to donate directly to public school classroom requests submitted by teachers.
The $1 million donation is part of the SONIC Drive-In brand’s ongoing Limeades for Learning initiative.

By Epi Torres

On Friday, several former Fillmore High School athletes competed in their first collegiate meet this season.
Alianna Tapia, a second year runner for the Moorpark Raiders ran in the Moorpark Invitation on Friday. This meet was held at Arroyo Vista Park in Moorpark over a 3.1 mile course. In the women’s race 8 teams and several athletes competed over the relatively flat grassy course, under cool conditions. Alainna led her team to a 4th place finish with an individual placement of 5th place in a time of 20:08.3. This was Alianna’s second race this season. Last week, she competed at the Tour de Cuesta Invitational and also finished in 5th place in a time of 22:10.8.

Three of Alianna’s former high school teammates also competed on Friday at the Big West Preview held on the Blacklake Golf Course in Nipomo. Running in the Women’s’ 5 kilometer race for Cal State Northridge, a Division 1 school, was Vanessa Avila. This was Vanessa’s first race this season as a Matador. Vanessa captured 80th place in a time of 20:24.4, and helped her team finish in 8th place.

In the Men 6 kilometer race Camilo Torres traversed the course in a time of 19:09.7 and finished in 51st place. As a team, the Matadors finished in 7th place. Also competing at this meet for Westmont was Rey Laureano. Rey finished in 87 place in a time of 20:19.9. In the team competition, Westmont finished in 9th place.

It always makes us proud to see our former athletes continue their athletic endeavors at the post secondary level. Alianna will next compete at the So. Cal. Preview meet at El Dorado Park in Long Beach on 9/15. Camilo and Vanessa will travel to Riverside, on 9/16 and run in the UC Riverside Invitational, held at the UCR Ag Ops Course. Rey and the Westmont team will compete on September 8th at the Biola Invitational in Fullerton. We wish them continued success. Go get them Flashes Alumni.

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Detectives assigned to the Ventura County Combined Agency Team (VCAT) concluded their investigation into a Mexico based drug trafficking organization responsible for the importation of bulk quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine from Mexico into the United States. Investigators learned this organization smuggled the methamphetamine into the United States in liquid form. Once inside the United States, the methamphetamine was converted from a liquid form to a solid “crystal” form. Once crystalized, the methamphetamine was then transported in bulk by drug couriers to wholesale customers located in the greater Los Angeles area, including Ventura County.

On August 18, 2023, VCAT investigators developed information which indicated a large shipment of methamphetamine was destined for the city of Fillmore. During this operation, investigators observed Downey resident, Erick Montoya in the McDonald’s parking lot in the 900 Block of Ventura Street, Fillmore. Montoya was associated with a blue color Honda Sport Utility Vehicle. Investigators developed probable cause to believe Montoya was in possession of methamphetamine. Montoya was contacted and detained at the scene. A Fillmore Police K-9 was used to conduct a sniff search of Montoya’s vehicle. The K-9 alerted to the presence of narcotics inside the vehicle.

A search of the vehicle was conducted. During the search, investigators located approximately 56 pounds of methamphetamine inside a cardboard box in the rear cargo area of the vehicle. In addition, investigators also located several thousand dollars of suspected drug proceeds, multiple cellular telephones and several grams of cocaine. Erick Montoya was transported and booked into the Ventura County Pre-Trial Detention Facility. The street value of the seized narcotics is estimated at an excess of $1.2 million dollars. This case will be presented to the District Attorney’s Office for filing.
VCAT is a task force made up of Ventura County regional law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). The primary mission of this partnership is to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations responsible for the introduction of bulk quantities of dangerous narcotics into Ventura County.
Nature of Incident: Major Methamphetamine Seizure

Report Number: 23-106761
Location: 900 Block of Ventura Street, Fillmore CA
Date & Time: 8/18/2023 @ 7:45 PM
Unit(s) Responsible: Ventura County Combined GAnecy Team (VCAT) Ventura County Fentanyl and Overdose Crimes Unit (VCFocus) Fillmore Police Department

(S)uspects,(V)ictims,(P)arty,(D)ececent City of Residence:

(S) Erick Montoya Downey, California 32

Prepared by: Sergeant Odilon Malagon
Approved by: Captain Ron Chips

Three Palm trees ignited during Friday's fire which started under the Chambersburg/23 Bridge. Embers from the trees caused several spot fires to spread.
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Illegally Parked Car Interfered With Fire Response A car was illegally parked within 5-feet of this fire hydrant in the 600 block of River Street on Friday when a blaze broke out in the Santa Clara Riverbed. The county engine had to maneuver and switch equipment to compensate for the angle of the hose. This is an ongoing problem in front of the condos behind Vons which might be solved if the city painted the curb red and violators were ticketed. Parking within 15-feet of a fire hydrant is prohibited by the California Vehicle Code regardless of whether the curb is painted red or not.
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Fillmore Fire Chief Keith Gurrola is pursuing a grant for “hazard reduction” from a state-wide $113 million wildfire prevention grant. The grant is in “pre-agreement”, according to Stephen Watson, Executive Director, Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council.

“We are anticipating the agreement to be finalized with CAL FIRE in the coming months, and that the allowable time for us to begin work on these project(s) will not be until early 2024. Furthermore, we will need to ensure that the required environmental considerations, permits, and monitoring are done prior to and during any fuels treatment project. With these in mind, it will add at least six months to a year on the timeline before activity can occur on the ground. I would estimate fuels treatment activity to not begin until late 2024 or early 2025 because of all these considerations”.
The monies would be used to clear out the bamboo-like Arundo; it can grow as high as 15-feet and is noted for its rapid spread.

Watson stated the goal of the Ventura County Education and Fuels Mitigation Initiative is to “engage and empower Ventura County’s most vulnerable, high fire risk communities in order to engender lasting security from wildfire. This will be accomplished through the adoption of three cutting-edge interventions in the fields of education, Firewise development, and fuels treatment. The projects supporting each of these interventions include well-established mitigation measures, such as home hardening assessments, educational outreach, and fuels treatment projects, as well as innovative solutions such as developing Firewise communities in Ventura County. This project aims to serve the entirety of Ventura County but focuses on fuel treatment efforts within 392 acres.”

Additional details about some of the Fillmore/ VRFSC projects, courtesy Mr. Watson:
In partnership with the Fillmore Fire Department, Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council (VRFSC) has identified several fuels projects that will substantially lessen the risk of wildland fire to life, structures, and assets in Fillmore. The primary project is addressing the heavy fuels (primarily sumac) in the foothills north of Fillmore. This is an extremely important project for local residents, as the primary wildfire threat in Fillmore is from a wind driven fire coming out of the north-northeast. The fuel reduction methods for this project include hand treating and chipping fuels and/or utilizing a broadcast burn. This project consists of modifying the ground and ladder fuels as well as thinning and trimming trees in the area. This fuels modification project will limit the spread of fire from tree to tree and to other vegetation within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) project area while reducing ember cast potential to the adjacent structures. The homes adjacent to this WUI project were built prior to California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 24, Part 2, known as the 2007 California Building Code (CBC) and will benefit greatly from the additional buffer zone.

The second fuels treatment project in Fillmore involves addressing the two miles of bike path along the Sespe River that is home to heavy fuel loading. This project would remove a 15-foot swath of brush from the river side of the bike path; the targeted fuel type is primarily sage with some mule fat mixed in. This fuel reduction would ensure that the split rail fence dividing the bike path and the brush would not burn during a wildfire and would create a wider fuel break between the brush and nearby homes. This project would involve cutting and chipping targeted fuel.

VRFSC would also be providing educational workshops and activities alongside these fuels projects to help inform residents of the work being done as well as the ways in which they can be involved. Additionally, VRFSC will explore Firewise community development in Fillmore, as well as all other wildfire-prone areas in Ventura County.

Cost: $115,000 budgeted toward the fuels projects themselves in Fillmore. NOTE: This does not include VRFSC staff time, educational components, Firewise development or contractual costs of CEQA/environmental compliance. It is purely the cost of the work itself in Fillmore specifically. It’s not exactly possible for us to determine exact involvement in Fillmore for the countywide initiatives until the work begins. Example: Firewise community development is heavily dependent on community receptiveness and involvement.