Author: Amy Dyson

We will continually update this blog throughout the Dumpathon.

Funding and support for this project is provided by a grant to the Fire Safe Council of San Diego County from the San Diego River Conservancy.

For information about dumpster locations and remaining capacity click here to visit our Dumpathon page.

Wednesday, February 23, 2022: We’ve had a very successful Dumpathon and estimate we’ve removed 17 tons of flammable green waste from Kensington!

In fact, we were so successful that two of our five dumpsters were completely full before the event even ended, so we had them hauled away early.

A total of four dumpsters were 100% full and one large dumpster was 90% full.

We are so grateful to YOU, our community, for doing your part to keep Kensington safe from wildfires. We’re also grateful for our dumpster-minders for hosting our five dumpsters. And we are especially grateful for our sponsors, The Fire Safe Council of San Diego County and the San Diego River Conservancy.

Take a look at our very full dumpsters:

Thursday, February 17, 2022: The dumpsters arrived today! Board members Vicki Pinkus and Judy Harrington attached our signs to the dumpsters.

This is the first time we’ve held a Dumpathon in February. We’re hoping neighbors will take advantage of the cooler weather to do the hard work of clearing flammable brush from their canyons and yards and dump it in our dumpsters free of charge.

We will continue to hold our Fall Dumpathon this September or October.

For the past week, Kensington Fire Safe has been collecting holiday treats for our firefighter heroes at our local Fire Station 18 in Normal Heights. Neighbors donated items that filled two overflowing baskets, and SOMEONE even donated some mistletoe! Kensington community businesses also stepped up to donate. Stehly Farms donated two large boxes of fresh produce. Clem’s Bottle House and Kensington Starbucks also donated items.

On December 13, 2021 Kensington Fire Safe board members dropped off these goodies to the grateful firefighters. We let them know how much we appreciate their service to our community, and it was really an honor chatting with these wonderful people. We can all rest assured we’re in good hands with these men ready to jump in in case of emergency.

A heartfelt thank you to all the people who generously donated items to the goody baskets, and a huge thank you to board member Vicki Pinkus for organizing this year’s holiday gift.

Year-round fire season means gardening for fire safety year-round too. San Diego Master Gardener, writer and lecturer, Cindy Bruecks, will cover how to prep your land and plants, and your home’s exterior, and will even provide paperwork to give you the best chance of fending off flying embers. Everyone in our neighborhood is near a wildland boundary, and hence in harm’s way.  Join us for this horticulturist’s view of fire readiness.

Wednesday, November 17^th.     7 – 8 PM on Zoom
Join the Zoom presentation at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84714380025?pwd=dE9JWndxdGxYa1lDbXNVU1hZVWNHUT09

Please click here to RSVP for the Zoom presentation.

Before attending the presentation please download the Checklist for Firesafe Landscaping.

You and your home will be glad you came! 

On Thursday, September 30, 2021 six dumpsters were placed at various locations around Kensington. Here they are in all their glory:

On Tuesday, October 5, 2021 four of these dumpsters, even the two jumbo-sized dumpsters, were almost completely full:

Four of the six were 80% or more full, and two were 60% full.

On Thursday, October 7, emptied dumpsters were placed at seven new locations around Kensington. Here are the Week 2 dumpsters:

On October 9, three days after Week 2 dumpsters were delivered Bill and Judy Harrignton’s dumpster filled up!

On October 12, with only one full day remaining in our Dumpathon, almost all our dumpsters are 90% or more full!

We’re so grateful that the community got on board and took full advantage of this opportunity to clear fire-fuel from their canyons and yards.

By our estimate, we removed up to 39 tons of green waste during the Dumpathon.

Thank you so much to our 13 dumpster-minders, neighbors who let us place a dumpster in the street outside their house. They spread the word about the Dumpathon and got many of their neighbors involved. They also monitored the dumpster throughout the weeks and notified us of any problems. Our dumpster-minders were incredibly helpful and supportive. Here’s a map of where our dumpsters were located:

A HUGE Thank You to SDG&E, The San Diego Regional Fire Foundation, and generous Kensington Fire Safe Dollar$ 4 Dumpsters donors for funding our fall canyon cleanup. We couldn’t do it without you!

Also, a BIG Thank You to Ware Disposal, our dumpster rental company, who provided incredible support for our project!

For more information on the Dumpathon please click here to go to our DUMPATHON page.