Grant to fund fire damage repair

A $1-million federal grant to help in the cleanup of the thousands of acres scorched in October’s wildfires will put scores of Ventura County residents to work for up to six months, officials announced.

Using funds from a Department of Labor National Emergency grant, the Ventura County Workforce Investment Board is working with eight job and career centers and two other nonprofit groups to select qualified candidates for 62 full-time jobs by late February.

Those hired will earn $11 an hour for the positions, which will involve physical labor outdoors helping restore trails and public infrastructure damaged in the Ranch fire, which burned 58,400 acres in the Los Padres and Angeles national forests, including land east of Lake Piru and Piru Creek.

Eligible candidates must be 18 or older, have proof of a legal right to work in the United States and have been unemployed for at least the last five weeks.

To apply, contact the Tri-Counties Labor Foundation, www.laborfoundation.org, at (805) 385-4487 or Oxnard City Corps, www.citycorps.org, at (805) 385-8081.

--

-- Gregory W. Griggs