Fire Hazard Brush, East of I‑35
Dry summers reach the blackland too. We cut defensible space around houses and outbuildings.
What defensible space means here
Most Firewise guidance is written for forest. Manor is prairie with brush on it, and the fuel that carries fire to a house here is dry grass and the mesquite, yaupon, and cedar growing in it, especially where it touches a shed or the house.
Defensible space on this ground is a kept zone close to the structure with no brush and no dead material, then a thinned zone beyond it so a grass fire cannot run continuously into the brush and up to the wall. We mulch the brush in both zones; the mulch bed, kept thin, does not carry fire like standing dead yaupon does.
Manor and east Austin
Manor and east Travis
Acreage with a house in the middle of it and brush that has crept up to the yard over ten years. The job is the ring around the house.
East Austin
78724 and 78725 lots and small tracts near Colony Park and the 130 side, where the city's fire code and a neighbor's brush both matter. Austin has an active Firewise alliance; we are a contractor, not the program.
Mulch, not burn
A burn pile during fire season makes no sense. The ban is on when the risk is highest, and a pile waiting for it to lift is fuel sitting next to your house. We mulch the brush in place, keep the bed thin near buildings, and haul it if you want it gone.
For lots where the problem is a letter rather than a fire, see overgrown lot clearing. For the method itself, brush clearing.
Fire hazard brush questions
Is Manor a Firewise USA community?
We have not verified that and we are not going to claim it. Firewise USA is a recognition program for neighborhoods; Austin has an active Firewise alliance. We are a contractor who cuts defensible space, not the program.
What is defensible space on prairie ground?
Distance between a structure and fuel. On the blackland that fuel is dry grass, mesquite, yaupon, and cedar, not a pine forest. The near zone is kept clear of brush and dead material; the next zone gets thinned so fire cannot run continuously to the house.
Can I just burn the brush to clear it?
In a fire hazard season, that is the wrong answer by definition. Burn bans are in force when the risk is highest. We mulch instead; there is nothing left to ignite.
Is there money to help with this?
Sometimes, through county or Texas A&M Forest Service programs, but it changes year to year and we do not guarantee any of it. Ask them directly.
Send photos of the brush
Show us the brush and the nearest wall or fence. We measure the space and quote the ring.
Clearline Land ServicesPO Box 997, Elgin, TX 78621
512-575-4928
8am–6pm daily
Photos received
We'll look at the photos and call. If it's a tree only job (one backyard oak), we'll say so.