Firefighting Goats

In West Sacramento, California, an unlikely team of firefighters is helping save homes from wildfire. They have four legs, love to eat, and bleat when they're happy. If you haven’t guessed already, we’re talking about goats!

When flames raced toward a condo complex in 2022, the fire suddenly stopped. Residents credit the goats who had recently cleared the area of dry grass and brush. Tim Arrowsmith owns over 4,000 goats that graze across northern California. His herds devour fire fuels that would otherwise help blazes spread.

In his documentary producer John Chipman explores how this novel approach to wildfire prevention works. He also asks why goat grazing isn't more common in Canada, where officials are skeptical of these cute furry firefighters.

Produced John Chipman and Joan Webber with help from Catherin Rolfsen / Originally aired on What on Earth

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit