Free chipping services available from Lake Tahoe area fire districts

Defensible space is the barrier that helps slow or halt the progress of fire that would otherwise engulf a property, and Lake Tahoe area fire departments are offering free chipping services to help with that task. Creating and maintaining defensible space is a key concept in wildfire prevention and is important for local fire-adapted communities.

All neighborhoods can take steps toward creating defensible space around their homes by clearing vegetative debris, pine needles, and woody materials.

Each fire district at Lake Tahoe hosts a chipping program which can be requested by local individuals and neighborhoods. Chipping programs provide a chipping crew to come to a local residence and chip the debris created through defensible space work such as during neighborhood workdays, which may entail activities like brush clearing and tree pruning. This valuable resource can greatly assist in community efforts to manage fuels around homes and improve overall wildfire preparedness.

The residential curbside chipping program is grant-funded to support property owners as they create defensible space, to reduce vegetation that would be fuel during a wildfire. This program is not to be used by tree service and defensible space contractors. Large piles left by contractors will not be chipped.

This project was funded due to the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act, which authorized the sale of BLM-administered federal lands within a designated boundary in the Las Vegas Valley and required proceeds to be used on projects to fund federal, state, and local projects that benefit communities and public lands.

You can request chipping from your local fire district through the links below and learn more about the specific guidelines they require:

North Tahoe Chipping Services
North Lake Tahoe Chipping Services
Lake Valley Fire Chipping Services
Tahoe Douglas Chipping Services
South Lake Tahoe Chipping Services