“Keep your property lean, clean and green” is the motto for the 2026 Curbside Chipping Program.

Maintaining the legally required 100 feet of defensible space around your property can be a challenge, according to officials with the Fire Safe Council of San Diego County. But once you have taken the necessary steps to protect your property by thinning and trimming hazardous brush, you are often left with large piles of dry vegetation, which can themselves become a fire hazard.

Getting rid of that secondary fire hazard is the goal of the Curbside Chipping Program, which is returning for residents of very high fire risk communities, including several areas in Ramona.

Through the program, eligible Ramona residents can thin and clear hazardous brush and vegetation within 100 feet of their home, then stack or pile the materials according to the guidelines on the Fire Safe Council of San Diego County’s website.

The organization will evaluate the residents’ work and send a chipper to their homes to chip the cut material, said Ramona West End Fire Safe Council President Kristi Mansolf. However, San Diego Country Estates and the Town Center area are not in an eligible service area for the program, she said.

“Please note that they will not send a chipper out to your property until they have enough applications for an area,” Mansolf said. “At this time there is no firm deadline, but please don’t wait to apply.”

Mansolf recommended that residents check the Fire Safe Council’s website at firesafesdcounty.org/programs to make sure their property is in the service area before they do any work. If it is in the service area, residents can submit an application available on the website.

A contractor will contact residents to let them know when chipping will occur, according to the program. Piles must be staged within 5 feet of the driveway or roadway. If the piles are not visible, residents will not receive service. Chipped material is left onsite; the material can either be left in a pile or distributed at the chipping location.

This program is administered by the Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County in partnership with the Fire Safe Council of San Diego County. Funding is provided by the Regional Resilience Grant Program through the Governor’s Office of Land Use & Climate Innovation.

For more information, email Morgan Dioli at morgan.dioli@rcdsandiego.org.