More Goats Coming To Benicia For Fire Prevention, Fuel Management

BENICIA, CA — The rolling hills of northern Benicia, where some 50 separate open space areas together total 1,800 acres, are a result of incorporating natural open spaces into the area's residential development. The blending of the open space with residential neighborhoods creates unique challenges for the Benicia Fire Department during the summer fire season.

That is why Benicia City Council at its March 16 meeting approved a new agreement with Goats R Us to bring more goats to the city to graze open space areas.

The goats will graze from late March through June, removing combustible vegetation.

It is one of a variety of strategies the Benicia Fire Department uses to prevent wildfires from spreading to surrounding residential properties. Historically, the department has contracted with heavy equipment disking companies each spring to disrupt the vegetation around the perimeter of each open space. This created limited fire breaks designed to slow the spread of fire so that firefighters have more time to respond.

The addition of goat herds has been effective in clearing large areas of vegetation. Prior agreements with goat-herding companies brought a limited number of goats to graze
only during the winter months. This allowed much of the vegetation to regrow before the
summer fire season.

The new agreement brings a greater number of goats to the area during the spring months and stipulates that the herds graze the areas between residential property lines and 50 feet into the open spaces.

"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," Benicia fire Chief Josh Chadwick said.