Los Angeles County firefighters are receiving much-needed assistance in reducing wildfire risk by allowing goats and sheep to nibble away at dry vegetation.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department performed a demonstration on Tuesday in Topanga to highlight how the animals help clear undergrowth in fire-prone regions. The animals helped remove approximately 32 acres of bush.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection funds the Fire Fuel Reduction Initiative, which encompasses all of this. Goats and sheep are skilled eaters who can clean up a field quickly, especially the wide fields of Topanga Canyon.
“One hundred and fifty sheep and goats can plow through a football field in about a day and a night,” said Cole Bush, a local shepherdess and agriculture advocate.
For firemen, utilizing animals is a lot easier and less expensive approach to practice fire prevention than using humans and heavy equipment to clear the vegetation.
“If we have proper fire prevention, it leads to adequate fire suppression,” Capt. Drew Smith stated.
Bush stated that the idea is to eliminate the vegetation that supplies flash fuel to fast-moving wildfires and restrict their spread once they start.
While Bush now lends her livestock for brush clearance in Topanga and high-risk fire zones, the program may discover more animals eating on acreage throughout Los Angeles County.