In preparation for wildfire, the Montecito Fire Department works in collaboration with identified neighborhoods to assist residents in improving community defensible space. Montecito Fire Department’s annual Neighborhood Chipping Program will begin Feb. 14.

Each spring, Montecito Fire partners with local residents to prepare for the approaching high fire season and reduce the density of vegetation in strategically selected areas of roadways and private properties. The intent is to assist community members with increasing defensible space around areas most at risk of severe impacts from wildfires.

Montecito Fire also offers guidance to residents on how best to trim back vegetation along driveways and roadways to create safer evacuation routes for the community, and better access for first responders.

Residents will receive a Neighborhood Chipping Program postcard in the mail with specific dates the work will be done in each selected neighborhood.

The postcard provides instructions for homeowners, including their responsibilities for cutting the vegetation, how and where to place cut material, and what material cannot be chipped (vines, grass, palms, succulents, firewood, and other small trimmings). Those materials may be disposed of in roll-off containers that are provided as part of the program.

Montecito Fire offers the Neighborhood Chipping Program to some 1,300 residents within the community’s Very High Fire Severity Zone. Reducing the volume of flammable vegetation creates more defensible and survivable space around a property and increases the entire community’s resiliency to wildfires.

The Fire Department has a new interactive Neighborhood Chipping Map at montecitofire.com that allows community members to type in their address to learn the start date of chipping in their neighborhood.

Montecito Fire will work with a contractor to complete the chipping work for the program. The contractor will work alongside wildland fire specialists throughout the 10-week program to chip material and facilitate the Tag & Trim portion of the program. Low-hanging branches are identified, or “tagged,” by the Fire Department during routine neighborhood inspections.

The contractor will remove, or trim, the flagged branches. Clearing these areas improves access for fire engines while also making it safer for residents to evacuate during a fire or other disaster.

For more about the Neighborhood Chipping Project or to schedule a complimentary Defensible Space Survey, contact wildland fire specialists Maeve Juarez and Nic Elmquist, 805-969-7762 or email preventionmail@montecitofire.com.