City of Reno issued the following announcement on August 20.
The Reno Fire Department (RFD) is announcing an extension to its dumpster program to assist homeowners with protecting their homes from wildfire.
The Reno Home Wildland Fuels Reduction Program assists homeowners bordering the wildland urban interface communities of Reno to provide for defensible space. Creating defensible space is critical to reducing the threat and effects of a wildland fire.
The free dumpster program has been extended until November 20th. The City of Reno will deliver dumpsters to requesting neighborhoods for the purpose of creating defensible space. If you are located in a Reno community that borders the wildland urban interface, you may qualify for a neighborhood dumpster to haul away dead vegetation and overgrowth. If available you can reserve a dumpster at no cost. We require a neighborhood responsible to monitor that only vegetative waste is placed in the dumpster, and that the dumpster is secured closed once full.
The program is made possible through grants obtained from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Waste Management. The 30-yard dumpsters are delivered every Thursday and picked up the following Tuesday.
The program dumpsters are only for disposal of "vegetative waste" or "yard debris/refuse" - plants that grow on the property. Furniture, appliances, construction materials, hazardous materials and chemicals are not allowed in the dumpsters.
The purpose of this program is to give our community a tool to reduce the amount of fuel immediately surrounding your home. As we have seen with the Pinehaven and Caughlin fires, embers from a wildfire can travel great distances before landing on combustible vegetation in your yard.
To check for dumpster availability, call RFD’s main office at 775-334-2300 or submit your application here. Priority will be given to neighborhoods that border the Wildland Urban Interface.
Tips for creating defensible space
The fire safety goal of landscaping and maintenance is very simple: Reduce the amount of fuel immediately surrounding your home. This does not mean your property has to be barren. Some plants are more fire resistive than others. One of the most important things a homeowner can do is to create a safety zone or fire break around the house using space and fire resistive planting.
You can reduce your chances of being a wildfire fire victim by doing the following:
0 feet to 5 feet from your home:
- The Immediate Zone is closest to your house and the most vulnerable.
- Remove any combustible outdoor furniture. Replace jute or fiber door mats with fire resistant materials.
- Remove or relocate all combustible materials, including garbage and recycling containers, lumber and trash
- Clean all fallen leaves and needles regularly. Repeat often during fire season.
- Remove tree limbs that extend into this zone. We recommended no combustible vegetation within five feet of structures.
- Do not store firewood, lumber or combustibles under decks or overhangs.
- Use only inorganic, non-combustible mulches such as stone or gravel.
- The Intermediate Zone may include buildings, structures, decks, etc.
- Keep this area “Lean, Clean, and Green.”
- Remove dead plants, dead grass, dry leaves and pine needles from your yard, roof and rain gutters.
- Trim trees regularly to keep branches a minimum of 10 feet from other trees.
- Remove branches that hang over your roof, and keep dead branches 10 feet away from your chimney.
- Relocate piles of wood or debris 30 feet from any structures.
- Remove vegetation and items that could catch fire from around and under decks
- The Extended Zone may even include space more than 100 feet if you live on a steep south-facing slope.
- Cut or mow annual grass down to a maximum height of four inches.
- Try not to allow fallen needles and leaves to exceed a depth of three inches.
Original source can be found here.
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