Al Tahoe Firewise hosts annual neighborhood Yard Clean-Up and Chipping Day

On Saturday, August 3, 2024, the Al Tahoe FirewiseUSA Community will host their annual neighborhood “Yard Clean-Up and Chipping Day” and “Meet and Greet” event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 768 Los Angeles Ave., South Lake Tahoe.

This activity is the result of the many community partnerships developed by Al Tahoe Firewise over the past years. The organizations helping to make this day possible include The City of South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue, South Tahoe Refuse, California Conservation Corps, and Tahoe Resource Conservation District.

Free “Chipping” services, provided by South Lake Tahoe Rescue, will be ongoing throughout the day. Refreshments, Firewise defensible space and home hardening information, and evacuation Go Bags will be distributed at the Meet and Greet.

To request chipping service, sign up at https://www.chipperday.com/
southlaketahoe.

To support neighborhood defensible space clean-up efforts, South Tahoe Refuse is providing 6 dumpsters throughout the community for green waste disposal. We encourage the community to utilize this service to minimize the use of plastic bags on garbage pickup days.

Note: Acceptable materials include: pine needles, pine cones, leaves, branches, brush & sticks under 3” diameter, and PAPER yard waste bags. No plastic bags or trash of any kind should be mixed in with the yard waste. The material will be sent directly to a regional composting facility.

Dumpster sites are located:
Behind the Fire Station (#2) on Star Lake
Oakland Ave & Los Angeles
Modesto and Bellevue
Oakland & Los Angeles
San Jose & Nevada
San Francisco & Nevada
San Jose & Merced
Modesto & Bellevue

Two other organizational partners will assist at this event — the
California Conservation Corps and Tahoe Resource Conservation District. The California Conservation Corps is providing up to 10 volunteers to assist several of Al Tahoe’s disadvantaged community members with their defensible space management. Al Tahoe Firewise actively recruited residents to nominate a “Neighbor in Need” for this service at their “free” June 1st BBQ that was attended by over 450 local residents and community members, and guest speaker, Congressman Kevin Kiley, United States House of Representatives member.

The Tahoe Resource Conservation District’s fire-adapted Communities division will have their new “ember vent” activity on display as well as providing brochures and Go Bags to help residents implement best management practices on their properties.

A special feature of the day is the opportunity for neighbors to meet and interact with their Al Tahoe Firewise Team Leaders and “Street Ambassadors.” This new “neighbors meeting neighbors” interactive program was developed to provide personalized Firewise education and information to members of the Al Tahoe Firewiseusa District.

Ambassadors will also remind residents to turn in their annual defensible space “Time and Expense Sheets” that help the district maintain its ”In Good Standing” Firewiseusa recognition status that qualifies for Firewise insurance discounts. The district is actively recruiting new ambassadors and hopes that many residents will join this great group of community volunteers at the 10 am orientation. With the City of South Lake Tahoe’s newly implemented defensible space ordinance, yard clean-up and chipping days become critical tools in the defensible space mitigation toolbox to help make communities safer from wildfires. Through education and action, Al Tahoe FirewiseUSA will continue to be a model for the City and the Tahoe Basin by reducing combustible fuels throughout their Wildland Urban Interface community.

For more information visit www.altahoefirewise.com or contact us at
altahoefirewise@gmail.com.

- Dianne Rees/ Core Team Leader/Al Tahoe FirewiseUSA