DUMPATHON

Over 25 Tons Removed! A New Spring Dumpathon Record!

Dear Kensington Neighbors,

The final numbers are in — and what an incredible result!

Together, our community removed 25.37 tons of green waste (aka wildfire fuel) from Kensington during the 2026 Spring Dumpathon. That’s a brand-new Spring Dumpathon record, smashing our previous high of 19.5 tons. We even came within inches of our all-time record of 25.97 tons set last fall!

This year’s Dumpathon also marked an exciting milestone: the first event conducted in such close partnership with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD) and the City’s Environmental Services Department (ESD). Their support made a tremendous difference.

SDFD helped guide us through the permitting process, provided safety barricades for the dumpsters, and hosted an educational event where 63 community members learned about Zone Zero and home hardening strategies. ESD supplied 11 of our 12 dumpsters, coordinated deliveries and pickups seamlessly, and waived the green waste dumping fees at Miramar.

This event truly demonstrated what’s possible when a community and city agencies work together toward a common goal.

We also want to thank:

  • San Diego Regional Fire Foundation and the San Diego River Conservancy, our incredible Dumpathon sponsors
  • Our 12 amazing dumpster hosts
  • The District 9 Council Office
  • KFSC leadership and volunteers
  • And especially the many neighbors who filled the bins over 10 busy days

Because of Kensington’s success, similar Dumpathons are now being planned in other neighborhoods across San Diego, including Golden Hill, Talmadge, and Alvarado Estates. It’s inspiring to see communities across the city taking action to reduce wildfire risk.

Thank you all for making this year’s Dumpathon such a tremendous success. Kensington truly is something special.

With sincere gratitude,

Mike Baldwin
Dumpathon Organizer, Kensington Fire Safe Council

Dumpathon organizer Mike Baldwin talks to officials Franklin Coopersmith, Deputy Director, SD Environmental Services Department and Assistant Fire Marshal, Alex Kane, Wildfire Program Manager

Photo Credit: Inside San Diego

Read the article about the Dumpathon on Inside San Diego.

Next Dumpathon is scheduled for Fall 2026.

Are you ready to start ridding your canyon and yard of potential fire fuel?

Please check out the City’s Brush Management Guide for pruning best practices (may not be updated yet to include “Zone Zero” – five feet of no flammables next to a structure).

You can also check out San Diego Canyonlands video presentation and brush management resource guide here.

Can I hire someone to help?

Many residents ask us for recommendations on who to hire to do their brush maintenance. We reached out to our Kensington community and compiled this list of neighbor-approved gardeners and landscapers:

  • Andy Pierce
    • 619 535 9829
    • Kensingtonyardz@gmail.com 
    • ONLY YARDS – NO CANYONS
  • Danny Glessner
    • Wildfire Home Hardening Specialists
    • 760-822-4822
    • homehardening@gmail.com
    • NFPA-ASIP Certified
      • does inspections and makes recommendations but does not have a crew to do the work (as of this writing)
  • FIREPROTEC Weed, Brush, Tree & Hauling Services
    • Ismael Hernandez
    • 619-961-6250
    • Ismael and his crew specialize in canyon brush management for wildfire protection — removing the fire-prone vegetation and preserving the good stuff. He comes highly recommended by neighbors in Kensington and beyond.
  • Art’s Landscaping and Lawn Maintenance
    • 619-388-9011
  • Esven
    • 619-755-2786
  • Guillermo Olmos
    • 858-499-9918
    • Guillermor151979@gmail.com
    • Has a crew
  • Wilfredo’s Landscape & Maintenance
    • 619 366 8964
  • Sustaita Gardening and Clearing
    • Jesus Sustaita
    • 619 674 8404
  • Jose Tello Gardening Services
    • Tellosjose@gmail.com
    • 619 715 7579
  • Jason Weir

A huge THANK YOU goes out to…

  • All our dumpster-minders and Dumpathon Task Force volunteers who stepped up to help with the Dumpathon! You guys are terrific.
  • Our generous funders including The San Diego Regional Fire Foundation, San Diego River Conservancy and many Kensington residents.
  • Our two trusted partners, Ware Disposal and EDCO San Diego (who also donated three dumpsters).
  • San Diego Fire Rescue and Environmental Services Department
  • Support from Councilman Sean Elo Rivera’s Office.

Funders for the Dumpathon include San Diego Fire-Rescue, The San Diego Regional Fire Foundation, San Diego River Conservancy, Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera and Kensington residents. ESD also donates dumpsters for this event.

Kensington Fire Safe is proud to be a grant recipient of the San Diego Regional Fire Foundation, with support from the San Diego River Conservancy. This vital funding—along with generous donations from Kensington residents—makes our fall and spring Dumpathons possible.

Thank you all for helping keep Kensington fire-safe, one Dumpathon at a time!

DUMPATHON? WHAT’S THAT?

The Dumpathon is our semi-annual canyon cleanup. Kensington Fire Safe (KFS) rents dumpsters and places them around the hood for residents to dump their fire-prone canyon and yard brush trimmings for free. Dumpsters are left out for ten days at various locations around Kensington and neighbors are encouraged to clear out their canyons and yards to create defensible space around their homes.

With grant money from the San Diego Regional Fire Foundation we are able to rent a few dumpsters, but with our community fundraising efforts we are able to provide even more dumpsters and hold two clearing events a year. It is vital to clear canyons not only to reduce fire danger but also to deter homeless encampments. Experience shows that when the brush is cleared the homeless move out.

Kensington residents who live on or near a canyon volunteer as Dumpster-minders. A dumpster is placed in front of their home for neighbors to fill. They post signs, and check on the dumpster now and then to remove any non-green waste that may have been mistakenly added.  We sometimes need new dumpster-minders so let us know if you might be willing to do this great service for your neighborhood. If you’d like to volunteer please contact us at info@kensingtonfiresafe.org.

Remembering Dumpathons Past

2025 Fall Dumpathon Recap

🔥 DUMPATHON SMASHES RECORDS! 26 TONS OF FIRE FUEL REMOVED! 🔥

The results are in and this Fall’s Dumpathon was our most successful ever! Together, we cleared a record-breaking 26 tons of green waste (that’s wildfire fuel!) from our community. That’s more than 30% higher than our Spring 2025 Dumpathon total of 19.5 tons.

With this fall’s incredible turnout, we’ve now removed over 45 tons of green waste in 2025. That’s more than 90,000 pounds of fire fuel gone from our canyons and yards. Truly amazing work, neighbors!

A few fun highlights from this record-setting event:

  • One massive 40-yard dumpster was filled with 4.84 tons of green waste, breaking the previous record by more than a ton!
  • 12 returning dumpster-minders hosted again this fall and 6 of them collected even more than in the spring.
  • We welcomed 5 new dumpster-minders, bringing us to a record 17 Dumpathon locations across the neighborhood.
  • This fall, we also expanded westward into Normal Heights, adding a dumpster along the ridgeline overlooking I-15 and Kensington. That huge 40-yard bin filled up in just four days and had to be swapped for an empty one!

A huge thank-you to everyone who helped make this our most successful Dumpathon yet. You’ve made a real difference in keeping our community safer from wildfire.

🔥 2025 SPRING DUMPATHON PACKS 17 DUMPSTERS FULL OF FIRE FUEL! 🔥

Our 2025 Spring Dumpathon may have been our most successful one yet!

Together, we filled 17 dumpsters—removing nearly 20 tons of flammable trimmings from Kensington’s yards and canyons. That’s over 8,500 cubic feet of potential fire fuel… gone!

Now in its 10th year, the Dumpathon has become a beloved community tradition. Neighbors plan their yard and canyon cleanups around the arrival of the dumpsters—and participation continues to grow. This spring, in response to high demand, we brought in larger-capacity dumpsters, and they quickly filled up.

This impressive effort took nearly 160 volunteer hours to organize and run, and came in at just under $7,000. We had over 100 residents roll up their sleeves for hands-on defensible space work, and through outreach and word of mouth, we reached an estimated 1,500 community members—spreading fire safety awareness across Kensington.

Huge thanks to Dumpathon co-chairs Mike Baldwin and Peter Peschke for your tireless leadership. You made this look easy!

Special thanks to Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera’s District 9 office for providing tipping passes—allowing us to dispose of green waste at the landfill free of charge. Your support made a big difference!

Thanks also to our many dumpster-minders, haulers, and hard-working neighbors. You’ve helped make our community safer—one branch at a time.

Funders for the Dumpathon include The San Diego Fire Foundation, San Diego River Conservancy, SDG&E and Kensington residents. EDCO also donates dumpsters for this event.

The 2024 Fall Dumpathon is a wrap!

We hauled away 19 dumpsters full of fire fuel. Kensington residents say the neighborhood is safer from wildfire because of our efforts.

Here are the real heroes of the Dumpathon, our dumpster-minders!

RECAP OF THE FEBRUARY 2022 DUMPATHON

For the first time ever, KFS decided to hold a winter Dumpathon. This small, pilot program tested if it’s effective to hold two Dumpathons a year, one in the winter, and the main, larger one in the fall. The answer is a resounding YES.

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.

Click here to read our blog post and see photos of the event.

RECAP OF THE 2021 OCTOBER DUMPATHON

During the first two weeks in October, Kensington Fire Safe placed 13 dumpsters around the neighborhood, 6 in Week 1, 7 in Week 2. Neighbors took advantage of these free dumpsters to dispose of their flammable, overgrown brush.

We estimate that Kensington residents cleared close to 39 tons of fire-prone brush from their canyons and yards and placed them in the dumpsters provided by Kensington Fire Safe.

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.

We are also incredibly grateful to SDG&E, The San Diego Region Fire Foundation, and our neighborhood Dollar$ 4 Dumpsters donors for their generosity funding this successful fire-fuel reduction program.

We are also grateful for the amazing support we received from Ware Disposal, our dumpster rental company. They have been an invaluable partner through many Dumpathons and we look forward to working with them in the future.

For photos and more info about the Dumpathon held in October, 2021 please click here.