Defensible space and fire mitigation in Golden Valley, NV

Golden Valley is a small community of about 1,100 people between Reno and Stead, at about 5,100 feet. The Census counts about 470 housing units on about 3.6 square miles, so there is a lot of open ground between houses.

At a glance

• About 65% of buildings in the direct exposure zone
• About 470 homes spread over about 3.6 square miles
• Poeville Road Fire (2020, 2,973 acres) centred about 3.4 miles away
• Brush mowing and masticating with our own Bobcat T870

Why does spacing between houses change the job?

In a tight subdivision the nearest fuel to your house is often the neighbor's house. In Golden Valley it is the land itself. With homes spread this far apart, what lies within 100 feet of a wall is mostly on the owner's own parcel and mostly native brush and grass.

That is good news in one respect: the whole defensible space is yours to manage. The zones in the Living With Fire guide can be built in full, from the 5-foot ember-resistant strip to the reduced-fuel zone at 30 to 100 feet.

What does the work involve?

The arborist marks the zones out from the buildings, the crew clears flammable shrubs, dead material and low limbs by hand close in, the Bobcat thins or mows sagebrush farther out, and brush is chipped or masticated.

1. The arborist walks the parcel with you and marks the zones out from the house, barn and other buildings.
2. Close in, the crew removes flammable shrubs, dead material and low limbs by hand.
3. Farther out, the Bobcat thins sagebrush into separated clumps or mows it, depending on the plan.
4. Trees that stay are limbed up and cleaned of dead wood. Dead trees are removed.
5. Brush is chipped or masticated in place, and the estimate says which.

How the two machine methods differ is explained in mastication vs brush mowing vs hand clearing.

How does the rating read?

The Forest Service ranks Golden Valley's risk to homes higher than 96.7% of US communities and about 60% of Nevada communities. The overall rank is lower than neighboring Lemmon Valley, but the share of buildings directly exposed, 64.7%, is higher. All of the rest, 35.3%, are indirectly exposed. The community is small, about 1,150 buildings, so treat the percentages as approximate.

Outbuildings, tanks and woodpiles

Parcels with room tend to collect things: sheds, stacked lumber, hay, firewood. About 8% of households here heat mainly with wood (American Community Survey, a small sample). Each building needs its own clear strip, and a woodpile belongs away from the walls. We handle the vegetation around them. Show the arborist every structure you want protected so the plan covers all of it.

Nearby fire perimeters

The Poeville Road Fire of 2020 (2,973 acres) is centred about 3.4 miles from the middle of Golden Valley, the Reservoir Fire of 1999 (6,163 acres) about 3.6 miles and the Robb Fire of 2003 (2,197 acres) about 4.6 miles, in National Interagency Fire Center records. Twenty-six perimeter records of 300 acres or more fall within about 10 miles. A precipitation gauge a third of a mile away, Reno 5.3 N, averages about 10.1 inches a year.