Free Community Chipping Program

Working Together to Reduce Wildfire Risk Around Our Communities

Click here to view the SBCFSC Chipping Program Flyer

 

CHIPPING SCHEDULE: Crews will start chipping on the Monday of your neighborhood’s scheduled week. To participate in the program, all material needs to be in place by 8:00 am Monday morning. The identified schedule must be followed so all participants can be included in the program.

 

Santa Barbara County Schedule:

• April 17 Rosario Park, E. Camino Cielo, W. Camino Cielo, & San Marcos Pass
• April 24 Painted Cave and Trout Club
• May 1 Old San Marcos & Twin Ridge
• May 8 Fairview Foothills
• May 15 San Roque
• May 22 La Cumbre
• May 30 Mission Canyon Rd East and neighborhoods South of Foothill Rd (marked as Wk 2 on map)
• June 5-June 12 Mission Canyon Rd West and neighborhoods North of Foothill Rd (marked as Wk 1 on map)
• June 19 San Marcos Foothills [East] Week 1* (review map)
• June 26 San Marcos Foothills [West] Week 2* (review map)
• July 10 Rancho Embarcadero & Farren Rd
• July 17 El Capitan Ranch
• July 24 Paradise Road
  • 
• July 31 WRA revisit (April 17 & 24 locations)

Hollister Ranch Schedule:

May 1 through July 31 – Program collection & chipping is scheduled through these months but may have the flexibility to extend the schedule.

• May 8 Ranch Office; Cuarta Road by 103 culvert; Sacate Road by 94 & 99; Upper Bulito by 61; San Augustine by 34; West Segundo by 11 culvert; (5 days)
• May 15 Agua Caliente (3 days); La Alta (2 days)
• May 22 Alegria (2 days); Del Norte – Serrano (1 day); Cuarta – Sacate (1 day)
• May 29 Sacate (2 days); Coyote (1 day); Santa Anita (2 days)
• June 5 Agua – Segundo – Del Norte (3 days); Long Canyon (2 days)
• June 12 Panochas – Segundo (1 day); Bulito – Upper Bulito (4 days)
• June 19th Agujas – Segundo (2 days); San Augustine (2 days)
• June 26th De La Cresta (4 days); Llegua – Segundo (1 day)
• July 3rd Barranca Honda – West Segundo; Cementario – Cojo (2 days); Ranch Office (3 days)  

Non-Chippable items must be placed in the designated dumpsters only at sites located at (1) Santa Anita, and (2) Bulito

 

About the Project

The Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council was awarded a three-year grant to provide free curbside chipping services for residents throughout the south coast of Santa Barbara County to reduce fire risks around their homes by encouraging the development of defensible space in designated neighborhoods. You do the cutting and our contractor will chip the vegetation on-site and take it away. If you would like to retain the chips for your own landscaping, you may request this during chipping activities with these key points in mind:

• DO NOT use woodchips or other combustible materials within a five-foot radius of your home.
• Woodchips can create a direct line of ground fuel to your home, make sure to utilize islands around your yard with noncombustible gaps between to reduce this risk.

Selected neighborhoods have designated scheduled services which will be sent to residents via postcards. Neighborhoods in Coastal Santa Barbara County were selected based off of their Fire Severity Risks determined by CAL FIRE, density of surrounding vegetative fuels, topography, and determined need by local fire authorities. 

How to Participate in the Community Chipping Program

START CUTTING YOUR VEGETATION in advance of your scheduled neighborhood clean-up date. Focus your efforts within 100’ of structures and roadways, in the area known as your “Defensible Space Zone”. Learn more about creating defensible space here. Schedule a complimentary Wildfire Preparedness Evaluation by following this link to learn what improvements you should make around your home Schedule Eval. 

• No pre-booking is necessary, simply place branches at the roadside adjacent to your property, or a designated drop-off site if you live on narrow private roads, by the set-out deadline for your area. 
• If the vegetation is not easily seen from the street or you have questions about where you should stack your piles, please contact Project Manager Jessie Tobin at jtobin@sbfiresafecouncil.org to ensure it is marked for removal.
• Chipping in each area will take up to a week to complete. The number of days spent in each area depends on the amount of brush set out and the number of residents participating in the program. 

Vegetation must be longer than 3 feet, less than 16 inches in diameter, and stacked at the curb of your roadway with the cut ends pointing toward the road to be chipped. Leaves, succulents, pine needles, palm fronds, stumps, branches with thorns, vines, bamboo, root balls, grasses, and other small trimmings CANNOT be chipped.

Properly dispose of material that is not able to be chipped in the provided green waste roll-off containers. The containers will be placed in certain communities around the scheduled chipping start date and will remain in place for 7 days. Not all communities will have a roll-off container. Contact jtobin@sbfiresafecouncil.org to inquire about placement.

The containers are only for the vegetation that cannot be chipped and are not to be used for trash disposal. No non-compostable materials (painted or preserved lumber, trash, metal wire, etc.) construction waste, building materials, or household waste are allowed in the containers.

ROADSIDE TREE TRIMMING: In addition to providing free vegetation chipping services, SBCFSC will be Tagging and Trimming Roadside tree branches to provide adequate roadside clearance for emergency vehicles and safe evacuation routes for residents. These branches will be removed by a professional tree service during the scheduled neighborhood project. 

If you have any questions or would like to schedule a complimentary home evaluation survey, please contact our Project Manager Jessie Tobin at Jtobin@sbfiresafecouncil.org

 

 

Funding for this project was provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Fire Prevention Program as part of the California Climate Investments Program.

“SBCFSC Community Chipping Program, is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing GHG emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment– particularly in disadvantaged communities. The Cap-and-Trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution. California Climate Investments projects include affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zero-emission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture, recycling, and much more. At least 35 percent of these investments are located within and benefiting residents of disadvantaged communities, low-income communities, and low-income households across California. For more information, visit the California Climate Investments website at: www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov.”