Scripps Ranch, an upscale community to Mira Mesa’s immediate east, still feels the burn from the tragic Cedar Fire that devastated so many homes. The community is dedicated to ensuring it will never happen again—and have proved they will take any measure necessary. This summer, the residents banded together and executed one of the most creative brush-clearing plans ever imagined: Goats. Three hundred and fifty of them.

The goats, leased from Jamul-based Environmental Land Management, were turned loose to chow down on the numerous acres of dry chaparral, which would serve as easy fuel under the threat of another fire. Money to pay for the four-footed firefighters was raised by the community’s homeowners associations. Environmentally friendly, efficient, and quite amusing to watch, the goats are recommended by the area residents to other homeowners whose properties border San Diego’s countless canyons.