Goats have reprised their roles as four-legged firefighters at the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, helping to clear hundreds of acres of brush-covered hillsides in a key part of fire prevention.
Fire Prevention Efforts
According to Bryce Mason, senior vice president of facilities and administration, fire management is one of the top priorities at Universal Studios. The company has a whole fire prevention team and is trying to manage 400 acres of hillsides and brush.
The goats are part of a multi-phase approach to clear the brush. They are deployed to chew away on brush up to a certain height, and then a team of landscapers follows behind to handle larger brush and low branches.
This process comes with a lower fire risk than some other methods, as it does not involve gas-powered equipment that can spark and ignite fires.
The hillside management also helps some of the natural plants and grasses regain territory. Michael Choi, owner of Fire Grazers, the business that provides the goats, said that every year, the business gets more busy and the herd grows exponentially.
Two guard dogs, Noni and Joy, protect the herd of 500 goats from coyotes and other threats. In about a month, the goats grazed 77 acres of brush, eating thousands of pounds of potential fire fuel each day.
Original reporting: NBC4 Los Angeles — read the source article.
