MADERA COUNTY, CA – The Eastern Madera County Fire Safe Council chipping program is looking for material to process. Ands the best part is its totally free! Follow this link to enter your address and make a reservation. The more interest from a neighborhood, the more likely the prioritization. Tell your neighbors to sign up as well! Ideally they can service entire neighborhoods to increase efficiency.
This free service is funded by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s (CAL FIRE) Wildfire Prevention Grants Program as part of the California Climate Investments Program. If you have received defensible space assistance from the EMCFSC you are still eligible for chipping.
What Can & Can’t Be Chipped?
Allowed Materials:
- Woody brush/branches
- Maximum sized logs are 12″ in diameter. Larger logs may not be accepted.
Restricted Materials:
- Broom/Acacia with seed pods, or other invasive plant materials.
- Piles of leaves, pine needles or yard clippings. Only.
- Blackberry vines
- Poison oak/ivy.
- Timber harvest debris
- Vineyard/orchard waste
- Painted/preserved/finished lumber
- Trash
- Palm fronds
- Roots, stumps
- Rocks/mud
Where Should The Pile Be Located?
The material needs to be in a single pile along roadway/driveway, or in front of house area that can be accessed by hand crews. Piles that are a significant distance away from roadways will not be accessible.
How Big Can The Pile Be?
Maximum size of chip pile per property is 3 feet tall, 10 feet wide, and 50 feet long. Longer and larger chip piles may not be serviced.
How Should Piles Be Organized?
Piles need to be organized in the same direction. Piles that are severely tangled will not go through chipper. All longer branches need to have the bottoms of the branches all on the same side of the pile. See the photo of examples.
Does This Cost Anything?
NO, the only requirement is that the piles are already constructed.
