We started our big fire mitigation project today. The first thing was the huge danger tree poplar in the front that shades the house (bad for solar panels should we decide to get some). It lost huge missiles during wind storms and was starting to die from the inside.
It sucks to take down trees that still have green on them, but the hard decisions have to be made. A few other live trees are going to come down as well, all with exposed roots on the hillside leaning toward the house. Some limbing and brushing around the power lines will finish it for this year. It's a lot of work but we are keeping all the wood chips for the hen house and gardens. All the logs will be either cut up to dry for firewood or used in hügelkultur beds or raised beds for the gardens.
We might not be able to stop a wildfire if one comes this way next summer but at least we can try to do as much as we are able to reduce the risk.