The Fire Safe Garden Project was started in 2001, in order to better demonstrate to residents the variety of plants and landscaping options there are to help prevent fire from damaging your home or business.

With the help of local nurseries, the then Fire Marshal Paul Vitali and Capt. Ed Sims worked together to compile a list of plants that were both drought resistant (little to no watering needed in our climate) and either "fire safe" or "fire resistant".

A variety of these plants were planted at our Station 2 location at 300 Bonita Drive in Aptos (Across from the Deer Park Shopping Center), surrounded by landscaping rocks, which serve to both keep flames from reaching a structure and prevent an overgrowth of weeds around the garden and building.

While this garden is no longer open due to rennovations/relandscaping at the station, a color catalog was comprised and is available, giving information on each plant as to their care, appearance, blooming patterns, and whether plants are native or non-native to the area. Copies of this catalog are available at our Administrative Office at 831-685-6690, or for those with a DSL or faster web connection, you can download the catalog directly (below).