NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. October 26, 2021 – Nevada County Consolidated Fire District (NCCFD) was awarded grant funding to launch a one-year pilot program to provide community yard waste bins at no cost to neighborhoods within their district.
Deputy Fire Marshal Patrick Mason shared details of the program during a recent interview. “We want to help residents, especially on private roads, to reduce the fuel loading and create safer egress roads.”
Overgrown roads can create a tunnel of fire and make evacuations unsafe or even impossible. Clearing privately-owned feeder roads can improve the evacuation speed for entire neighborhoods and provide easier access for firefighting equipment.
Mason stated the program, funded by a grant from the California Fire Foundation and PG&E, will be available to any residents within NCCFD’s district.
“The funding couldn’t have come at a better time. Now is the time to cut excess brush and trees safely. We realized not everyone can avail themselves of the yearly Free Green Waste Drop Off events, either because they can’t transport the brush to the drop-off location or because they have trouble doing the work. That’s when we applied for this grant and we can’t thank the grantors enough.”
The community yard waste bins will provide easier access as they will be located in neighborhoods. “Anyone within the district can apply to have one of the containers dropped off on their property,” Mason said. NCCFD will conduct a site inspection, take before and after pictures of the neighborhood, including aerial drone photos. Several sizes of yard bins are available from smaller 2-yard bins to 20 or 40-yard bins (the same size used at the Green Waste events.)
Here is a map of NCCFD’s district, enter your address in the location search to check if you live within the district boundaries and are eligible for the program.
Interested homeowners can fill out an application on NCCFD’s website. They will be responsible for assuring only approved yard waste is loaded in the containers. The neighboring residents then bring the brush and woody debris cut on their properties and along the road.
Mason suggests that neighborhoods interested in the yard waste bins coordinate and organize work parties. He stressed the importance of roadside clearance, in a continuous line on either side of the road. As an added bonus, working with your neighbors means more can get accomplished, and renews the sense of community.
The district has enough grant funding to place 15 containers, with emphasis on neighborhoods with private roads.
More information can be found by emailing nccfireprevention@nccfire.com or call (530)265-4431.
Editor’s note: We suggest any work party include snack breaks!