The Free Disposal Program Worth Planning Around
CSFD's neighborhood chipping program is the best deal in Colorado Springs fire mitigation: homeowners in 143 Wildland-Urban Interface neighborhoods cut and stack their slash curbside, and the fire department chips and removes it free during fixed two-week regional windows. In the 2025 season the program serviced 5,429 homes and removed 1,474 tons of biomass. The catch: the dates are fixed, registration closes a week ahead, and a pile stacked wrong or late just sits there — dry, curing fuel leaned against your property line.
That is the piece we manage. Book fire mitigation work — oak clearing, thinning, pruning — and we schedule the cutting so slash hits the curb stacked to spec, just ahead of your region's window.
The 2026 CSFD Chipping Schedule
| Region | 1st round | 2nd round | Neighborhoods |
|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | May 25 | Aug 17 | Cedar Heights, Garden of the Gods, Holland Park, Kissing Camels, Mesa |
| Region 2 | June 8 | Aug 31 | Cragmor, Garden Ranch, Palmer Park, Pulpit Rock, Rustic Hills, Sunset Mesa |
| Region 3 | June 22 | Sept 14 | Falcon Estates, Mountain Shadows, Peregrine, Pinecliff, Woodmen Valley |
| Region 4 | July 6 | Sept 28 | Pine Creek Estates, Rockrimmon, Thunderbird Estates |
| Region 5 | July 20 | Oct 12 | Broadmoor Bluffs, Broadmoor Hills, Broadmoor Oaks, Ivywild, Old Broadmoor, Quail Lake |
| Region 6 | Aug 3 | Oct 26 | Skyway, Midland |
Registration: coswildfireready.org · (719) 385-7493. If your neighborhood isn't listed, you're outside the program — which is exactly when private chipping earns its keep.
Stacking to Spec — So the Chipper Takes Everything
The chipping crews move fast, and a pile that fights them gets left. The spec is simple and we build every pile to it: curbside, clear of parked cars, mailboxes, hydrants and low wires; cut ends toward the street so branches feed straight into the drum without re-handling; manageable lengths rather than whole trees; brush only — no lumber, no rootballs, no bagged leaves, no wire or nails hiding in the stack. Register your address the week before, then leave the pile alone until the chipper comes through.
Stack it right and 2025's numbers are what free looks like: 1,474 tons of fuel chipped out of 5,429 properties at zero disposal cost to the homeowners who met their window.
When the City Program Isn't Enough
- Missed both windows? We chip or haul privately — a stacked pile should never winter over against the house.
- Outside the 143 WUI neighborhoods? Black Forest, Monument and county pockets aren't on the city schedule; private disposal is quoted into the job.
- Big wood? The program chips branches, not trunks. Logs are bucked to firewood length or hauled, stumps ground on request.
- One-day turnarounds. Insurance inspection on the calendar? We cut, stack, chip and photograph in a single mobilization.
Call (719) 309-4206 with your neighborhood name — we'll tell you your 2026 dates on the spot and quote the fire mitigation work to match them.