Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue has a fuels reduction team to help reduce the threat of wildfire in the more rural parts of Washoe County. This week, heavy equipment crews are clearing vegetation in the Arrowcreek area.
"We're masticating 50% of the live fuels and 100% of the dead fuels," said Shawn Goetz, a heavy equipment operator for the department. "It's adding an extra buffer between the wildland fire, the advancing front as well as the structures in its path. By doing that, when the fire hits the mastication, it slows down the spread of the fire and our engine companies and hand crews can get in safely and engage the fire."
Fuels in the wildland-urban interface areas are always a concern in wind-driven wildfires.
"We're getting rid of sagebrush, old growth bitterbrush, we're leaving the younger bitterbrush for the wildlife," Goetz said. "The masticator helps mulch it into the ground and the cheat grass and invasive plant species don't have a chance to grow through the mulch."
The fuels reduction team works with NV energy to clear right-of-ways all over the area.
"Areas where there are power lines and utility lines, to ensure those areas are clear, to create defensible space," said Adam Mayberry with Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue. "So should there be a spark, this will go a long way to reduce the threat and spread of a wildfire."
Some of the worst wildfires in the county have sparked in the colder months, and while these crews are working to create defensible space, residents are asked to do the same.
"It's never too soon to begin to create that defensible space around your property, that clear area of 30 feet, removing dry vegetation and other debris," Mayberry said.
You'll see these crews working all year long.
"My work is never done; the program is still in its infancy," Goetz said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us, it's a never-ending process."
