Fire and land services

This is machine work. A hillside of sagebrush and bitterbrush, a pine stand that has grown too thick, or a lot that has to be bare before the builder arrives all go faster and cleaner with the right equipment. We own that equipment, and an arborist decides what stays and what goes before it starts.

Why does fire work matter so much here?

The USDA Forest Service rates Carson City's wildfire risk to homes higher than 98.5% of communities in the United States. Virginia City, Lemmon Valley, Dayton, Verdi and Spanish Springs all rank higher still, and Reno and Incline Village sit near 97.7%. See the full table at wildfire risk by community.

Fire mitigation means assessing your house's specific fire risks and removing fuel from around it, so that shrubs, trees and debris are less connected. University of Nevada, Reno Extension's Living With Fire guide lays the yard out in three zones: Zone 0 from the wall to 5 feet, Zone 1 from 5 to 30 feet, and Zone 2 from 30 to 100 feet. Your local fire district sets the rules that apply to your address.

Which service does the job?

The service depends on the job: defensible space for clearing around a house, lot clearing for bare ground, brush mowing or masticating for brush, logging for timber, crane work for heavy lifts, and backhoe or skid steer work for digging and moving material. The table below pairs each job with its service.

Not sure whether your ground calls for a mower, a masticator or a hand crew? This comparison explains where each one works.

The equipment behind it

• 2014 Bobcat T870 track loader
• Brush mower and masticating head
• Chipper and 2017 Ford F550 chip truck
• Dump trucks for hauling brush, logs and debris
• Backhoe and skid steer
• Crane and 75-foot Altec boom truck

Owning the machines means one company plans the job, runs the equipment and hauls the material away. See the fleet on the equipment page.

What to check before land work starts

In the Lake Tahoe Basin, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency requires a permit to remove live trees over 14 inches in diameter at breast height, and fire protection districts issue tree permits for defensible space. In the City of Reno, development sites fall under the tree protection rules in the municipal code. The agency decides, so ask before a machine is booked. Our permit guide lists who to call in each jurisdiction.