Now is the time to clear fire fuel — Park City Fire District’s free chipping program is underway

Photo: TownLift

PARK CITY — As Utah enters what fire officials expect to be an above-normal wildfire season, residents within the Park City Fire District can take advantage of a free wood chipping service that removes the kind of woody debris that fuels wildfires.

The service comes as the state faces a drought emergency declared by Gov. Spencer Cox on May 21, citing severe or extreme drought in every Utah county and the state’s lowest snowpack since 1930. The dry conditions have also hit local agriculture hard, with Wasatch Back growers facing crop losses and unpredictable weather.

Both Park City and Summit County enacted fire restrictions beginning May 1 — more than a month earlier than in recent years — and city officials have called wildfire Park City’s most likely and potentially most dangerous natural hazard.

Registration for the chipping program will remain open through approximately the beginning of September. The district operates one chipping machine staffed Monday through Thursday, following a route through 14 areas within its boundaries. A full lap typically takes a week and a half to two weeks.

Piles must be no larger than 8 feet long by 6 feet tall by 8 feet wide, with log butts facing outward in the same direction, and placed within 5 feet of a city or county street curb. Building materials, wire, garbage and dirt are not permitted. Each pile requires its own registration, and the district will chip one pile per address per lap. Oversized piles will not be partially chipped — residents must split them into compliant sizes.

The district also offers wildfire preparedness presentations for homeowners associations and can coordinate neighborhood chipping days. Residents can register at on the Park City Fire District website or contact the district at chipping@pcfd.org or 435-940-2484.