To help landowners create defensible space around their homes, Chaffee Chips will coordinate free neighborhood slash removal and chipping services in several geographic areas this year.

The countywide fire mitigation program reduces the threat of wildfire by helping homeowners remove potential fire fuels. Property owners in the service areas are asked to cut and clear brush and trees before the event and pile them at their curbs. 

Since Chaffee Chips started in 2020, more than 900 landowners have built 2,800 piles of slash that were chipped on-site by the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) or hauled away by Chaffee County Fire Protection District firefighters. This year’s service dates are:

  • Aug. 18-21: The town of Garfield
  • Sept. 22-25: Game Trail West Side
  • Oct. 20-23: Methodist Front West Side

Landowners can get detailed information about how to reduce wildfire threats on their property and protect their homes by requesting a free assessment from a CSFS forester. Call 719-539-2579 to schedule an appointment. 

Property owners in lower-elevation piñon-juniper forests need to be aware of the Ips bark beetle infestation. To prevent spread, do not cut any green/live piñon branches or remove whole trees during the beetle’s active periods from April to early October.

Chaffee Chips participants are required to register their slash piles on the Chaffee Chips webpage (https://envisionchaffeecounty.org/chaffee-chips/) for them to be picked up. A video is available on the webpage that explains what to do to effectively treat your Home Ignition Zone to prepare for a fire.

Chaffee County Fire Protection District has trailers available for all landowners who want to reduce the threat of wildfire on their property. Call 719-395-6545 and the district will drop off a trailer for you to fill with wood slash, and then they return to haul it away. The cost is $100 for residents in the fire district and $125 for those located outside the district.

Chaffee Chips is free to landowners and funded in-part by a Chaffee Common Ground grant.