Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council granted almost $4 million to limit wildfire impact

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – Two multi-million dollar fire prevention grants have been awarded to the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council to promote wildfire safety in local at-risk communities.

These two grants come from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and allow the local non-profit Santa Barbara Fire Safe Council to notably increase its fire prevention and education mission.

The South Coast Herbivory Project comes with a grant for around $1.9 million to use sheep and goats to reduce fuel sources through grazing.

These grazing plans are located in areas dominated by grass and sage and crucially, located adjacent to transportation corridors. This grazing should reduce the fuel load near potential ignition points.

The Community Chipping Program comes with approximately $2 million to hire a contractor to chip and remove harvested foliage from private properties.

On specified days, homeowners will be provided a roll-off dumpster for non-chippable but still flammable materials like palm fronds or leaves.

The Fire Safe Council will partner with 5,821 residents in 25 different neighborhoods in southern Santa Barbara County to limit the impact of wildfires across the county and is still looking for a full-time project manager. Interested applicants can apply via email at SBFireSafeCouncil@gmail.com.

For more information visit the Fire Safe Council's website here.