Free wood chips are now available to Sierra County residents at the transfer station in Sattley. Wood chips will also be available at the landfill in Loyalton beginning the week after Thanksgiving, weather permitting. The chips are available on a first come, first served basis and will be available until they’re gone.
The chips are the result of a county-wide residential chipping program operated by the Sierra County Fire Safe Council and funded through a grant from Cal-Fire. The money is generated from the annual fire fee residents pay to Cal-Fire.
The Fire Safe Council began the program earlier this year in communities throughout Sierra County. More than 25 residents participated at their residences before the chipping continued at the burn piles in Sattley and Loyalton. Residents reported more than 325 hours of labor, clearing property and bringing the material to the roadside for chipping.
The goal of the program is to assist homeowners in making their property more fire safe and to reduce the need to burn limbs and brush at the transfer sites. The county will continue to burn pine needles and cones.
The work is being done by High Sierra Fire, Inc., of Janesville under contract to the Fire Safe Council.
The Fire Safe Council would like to thank Project Manager Danielle Bradfield and Project Administrator Victoria Fisher. Also, thanks to the Roen Company of Calpine for donating an excavator and operator to separate the piles in Sattley and Loyalton and to Sierra County for its assistance at the transfer station and landfill.
The program will continue through March, 2017, as weather permits. Residents who want to participate or get more information should call Victoria Fisher at 993-4575 or (707) 337-7610.
