Firewise and defensible space clearing in Kittitas County

Defensible space is the buffer between a building and the vegetation that would carry a wildfire to it. Depending on who you ask, the work is called Firewise clearing, wildfire mitigation, fuel reduction, vegetation management or, locally, fire wising. The goal is the same in every case: break up the fuel so a fire cannot reach the structure, and give fire crews a safe place to work.

Washington DNR and the Firewise USA program measure it in three zones out from the building. Zone 0, the first five feet, should hold nothing that will burn: no juniper, bark mulch, dead grass, firewood or brush under the deck. Zone 1, from five to thirty feet, is thinned and cleared of ladder fuels, with trees limbed up so a ground fire cannot climb into the canopy. Zone 2, from thirty to one hundred feet, is thinned and spaced so a fire slows down before it gets close.

We handle the clearing itself: brush removal, limbing, thinning, grubbing and cutting fire breaks, plus opening driveways and turnarounds so a fire engine can reach the house. The cut material is hauled away or piled where you want it, so the job is finished when we leave.

If your insurance carrier or a wildfire risk assessment has given you a list of requirements, include it with your request and we will price the work to that list.