With snow rapidly melting this week, a reminder that wildfire season is coming up.

Red Beard Clearing and Cutting owner Sean Klongerbo goes up into the trees and cuts them down. His company specializes in land clearing and wildfire mitigation.

He met us at intersection of Pioneer and McQuade roads on Monday morning.

Klongerbo is concerned about the outbreak of spruce budworm, which has impacted over 600,000 acres in our area.

“It’s a little moth, and in its infant stage, its larvae stage, it’s consuming all of the foliage on these balsam and spruce trees. And over about two years, the trees just defoliate and they die, and it really contributes to a buildup of the fuels in the forest here and makes our wildfire hazard pretty much out of control,” Klongerbo said.

He was going to meet with a homeowner to talk about steps to protect their property. Here’s some advice for you:

“So things like cleaning out your gutter, removing firewood piles from around your house, being mindful of light flashy fuels in and around your home. You also just want to think about if resources were to come in and try and protect your home in a wildfire, would they have to do a whole bunch of work in order to save your house? Or are they going to be able to deploy the hoses and reels that they have and be able to protect your house? So it’s really just a matter of being prepared for if a wildfire does come through.”

For more about Red Beard: https://redbeard.work/

There has been grant money available to help homeowners pay for removal of spruce budworm impacted trees. Contact your local Soil & Water Conservation District for more information.