Community Chipping Program

Aspen's Free Chipping Service for Wildfire Mitigation

Thank you to Brush Creek, Mountain Valley, Meadowood, Castle Creek, West Buttermilk, Red Mountain/ Smuggler, Starwood, and the Water Department for your participation. Together, we removed  35.84 tons of brush from around structures in 2023!

Summer 2024: Neighborhood Signups

The Aspen Fire Chipping Program is returning in 2024 to assist communities and homeowners in reducing wildfire risk. We can help you create defensible space by providing free chipping and disposal for brush, branches, and small (<6 in. diameter) trees.

Brush collection is performed throughout the summer from May through October. Chipping date(s) are scheduled ideally 6 weeks in advance with a neighborhood representative or HOA leader to give people enough time to plan ahead. The neighborhood rep will help distribute information to others in the neighborhood to maximize participation in this program.

Once neighborhoods have been scheduled, homeowners will register their address for a brush pile pickup. Homeowners will pile brush according to the guidelines below and the fire department will chip and haul away for FREE. Neighborhoods anticipating higher participation will be prioritized over less engaged areas.

How can I sign my neighborhood up?

In order to schedule a chipping day in your area:

• you must live in a moderate to very high wildfire risk area within the Aspen Fire Protection District;
• a representative from your neighborhood must email ali.hammond@aspenfire.com; and
• we need assurance that at least 10 properties in your neighborhood will participate. 

Ok, Aspen Fire has confirmed that my neighborhood has been selected to participate. How do I register my piles?

Upcoming pickups 2024: 

• 2024 dates have not yet been scheduled. 
• Your brush pile pickup must be registered at least one week in advance of your neighborhood's scheduled pickup date.
• Participants must follow the below pile and material guidelines.

Guidelines

Piles that do not follow the guidelines for both piles and materials will not be accepted. If piles are not stacked according to guidelines, homeowner will be fully responsible for proper disposal of their rejected pile(s). Unregistered piles will not be picked up.

Pile Guidelines

• Piles must be stacked with the cut ends facing the road (see photo)
• Piles must be within 5 feet of the public roadway, but not touching the road, in drainage ditches or impeding any traffic
• Maximum number of piles: 5 per property
• Maximum pile size is 5 feet high x 5 feet deep x 7 feet long
• Piles that are created using heavy machinery that are very difficult to pull apart to chip will be rejected

Material Guidelines

Accepted materials include trees, tree branches, small diameter logs and brush (cut away from root mass). 

The following restrictions apply:

• No logs or branches with a diameter greater than 6 inches
• No construction, building or other man-made materials
• No lumber, fence posts or signs
• No roots, rootwads, stumps or anything else that grows below the soil
• No materials that contain dirt, sand, gravel or rocks
• No materials that contain any metal (nails, screws, fencing), string or other man-made materials
• No herbaceous / non-woody plant material

Wood Chips

• All wood chips, resulting from the chipping of your pile(s) will be removed and composted at Pitkin County Landfill.

Vegetation Management

• Aspen Fire provides free wildfire mitigation assessments beginning in May. 
• Check our list of local Vegetation Management Contractors.
• Please note, any additional vegetation management work beyond chipping & hauling will not be financially covered by Aspen Fire.

If you have any questions please email ali.hammond@aspenfire.com. 

Thank you to Pitkin County and the City of Aspen for helping make this program possible!