IS IT REALLY THE SAME PLACE?

Well, here we are, 6 working days since work began. Our crews are making fast progress.

Here is a quick glimpse into the work that is in progress. (This picture was taken "inside" of the area shown in the previous blog post pictures.)

LAS TUNAS PROJECT BREAKS GROUND THIS WEEK!

Over a year in the making, the Las Tunas/Mountain Drive vegetation management project finally broke ground this week. The 10 acre project involves cooperative agreements between private property owners and the Fire Department.

Through this project, the Fire Department, in conjunction with a USFS grant, funded through the California Fire Safe Council, will assist over 30 homeowners to complete additional defensible space work. This project will target the removal of dead, flammable, overgrown, invasive and unmaintained vegetation that makes the neighborhood prone to an increased risk from wildfires.

You can check out the early stages of this project in the location of Mountain Drive (just above Santa Barbara Tennis Club). Stay tuned for further pictures and information about this and future projects occuring this fall.

The pictures below show snapshots from the first day on the project. With the exception of the stacked vegetation, all other pictures were taken before any work was done. You can see we have our work cut out for us!

Defensible Space Chipping Hits New Record!

In an effort to comply with the City Fire Department defensible space clearance requirement deadline of June 15, 2011, homeowners in the high fire hazard area have been busier than ever preparing for the upcoming fire season.

Each year, chipping services are offered to those homeowners who reside within the Wildland Fire Suppression Assessment District located in portions of the Foothill and Extreme Foothill High Fire Hazard Areas of Santa Barbara’s foothills.

Chipping services are provided to encourage property owners to create defensible space and provide a cost effective way to dispose of cut material. This year we removed a record 500 tons of chipped material. That is higher than any other previous year since the district was formed in 2006.

The Fire Department would like to thank all of the property owners who took advantage of this service in order to create a more fire safe home, neighborhood and city.