SMUD Using Goats For Fire Prevention Under Major Power Lines

FOLSOM (CBS13) — Fire season is right around the corner, so in an effort to help prepare Sacramento County, SMUD has hired goats to eat away the problem for the first time.

A flock of 400 goats is now fenced-in across several acres that run through a residential Folsom neighborhood, underneath major power lines.

"These goats are out here doing some of the work for us and the community by reducing fire danger. This particular method is actually more cost-effective than hiring a tractor," Eric Brown, a vegetation manager for SMUD, said.

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The method may be less expensive but it can be slower. The goats capable of eating only one to two acres a day.

Still, the goats are a big help to the ones whose job it is to put out wildfires. Sacramento Metro Fire says grass and wildfires take up the majority of their summer months.

"If we can take care of the fuels now, then we reduce a lot of the risk for the summer. All your natural brush, plants, tree limbs even trees, all of that becomes fuel for fire to burn and spread," Captain Brian Gonsalves said.

The goats were hired by SMUD from a local Sacramento County farm.