Benicia tapping goats to help prevent vegetation fires
(Stock photo; Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
The City of Benicia has approved a new agreement with a grazing company that will see more goats chewing on combustible vegetation in the city later this month.
The new agreement with Orinda-based Goats R Us will help prevent vegetation fires in Benicia’s green, grassy hills before peak fire season begins.
“Currently, the fire department uses a variety of strategies to limit the impact of wildfires spreading from these open spaces to surrounding residential properties,” a spokesperson for the city wrote in an online post.
Those fire prevention measures include contracting “with heavy equipment disking companies” to “disrupt the vegetation around the perimeter of each open space.” That solution creates limited fire breaks, which city officials say can buy firefighters time to respond and extinguish vegetation fires after they start.
Goats, on the other hand, help reduce the likelihood of new wildfires from the start. The animals graze on combustible vegetation, and that helps keep the hills from igniting during the wildfire season.
A prior agreement with Goats R Us saw a limited number of animals being delivered to Benicia during the winter months, but city officials said the gap between when the goats would graze and the start of fire season allowed some consumed vegetation to grow back.
The new agreement will bring the goats back from late March to June, which will help keep combustible vegetation at bay.
“While it is important to remember that no realistic vegetation management program will completely alleviate all risks, we believe the increased and targeted utilization of goats will improve fire safety while also reducing air pollution, noise pollution, and erosion,” Josh Chadwick, Benicia’s fire chief, said in a written statement.
The goats will graze on vegetation from the start of a residential property line to at least 50 feet into open spaces, officials said.
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