Firesafe Grants Open in March

With the growing threat of wildfire, CalFire urges homeowners to create and maintain defensible space around their home and outbuildings to increase the chances their home will survive a wildfire.

Defensible space is a buffer you create between buildings and vegetation to prevent the buildings from catching fire.

State law requires that you maintain 100 feet of defensible space around your home and outbuildings – 30 feet where you remove dead plants from the yard and dry pine needles from the roof – and the rest where grass is cut to 4 inches at most, with horizontal and vertical spacing between shrubs and trees.

If your home is on a steep slope, this buffer zone should be increased.

If you take these steps, fire crews are more likely to spend time defending your property during a wildfire.

Fire Safe Santa Cruz County is raising money and offering grants to fund neighborhood chipping programs and larger neighborhood fuel load reduction projects to help homeowners make their neighborhood more fire safe.

Applications for chipping funds will reopen in March. Applicants must file at https://www.firesafesantacruz.org/no-cost-chipping with a detailed description of your project and/or your neighborhood’s needs. Priority will go to projects with demonstrated commitment from multiple landowners in the area.