Story by Ella Apisakkul
Staff Writer
Goats may sound like an unlikely animal to enter the South Pasadena area, yet they have been recently introduced as some of our newest community assistance, aiding the South Pasadena Fire Department with consuming nearby vegetation to decrease fire risk. South Pasadena Fire Chief Gregory Lloyd answers questions about these new animal helpers and concerns of the damage they could cause to the local ecosystem.
The goats, as funded by budget through the city’s Public Works department and approved by the South Pasadena City Council, have begun their work last Monday, August 31, and are projected to finish up by this Sunday, September 13, eating up plants around a total of three project areas in the Monterey Hills area to graze on grasses and shrubs that could be potential fuel for wildfires. The goats started in Project Area 1, bordering Los Angeles off of Harriman Avenue, moving to Project Area 2, on Illinois Drive and Camino Del Sol, all within areas of city-owned property. They end their journey in Project Area 3, working behind Monterey Hills Elementary School over the weekend of September 12 and 13 when the students are not present. Afterwards, they will be moved on to their next project, likely in the Orange County area.
They are one component of “a targeted grazing program, a vegetation management program specifically designed to reduce fire hazards. What [the goats] are focusing on is city-owned or city-controlled property, with the exception of one project area that we have behind Monterey Hills Elementary School.” Other parts of this program include tree trimming and home hardening, or “improving the home’s resistance to wildfires by embers”.
Goats were specifically chosen to help serve on this project, instead of purely human crews or clearing equipment, for their ability to better traverse steep terrain and their “indiscriminate” eating habits, which proves especially helpful for their assigned hillside area to better clear out diverse kinds of wildfire fuel. However, they cannot eat through all types of potential fuel, which is why Fire Chief Lloyd refers to this project as a “hybrid program… we know that there is going to be mechanical vegetation follow-up for that, and we know that they don’t necessarily eat through diameters of sticks or those types of things that they won’t eat. We’re monitoring them with the contractor, and then if there are areas that they can’t get to or that are not correct, then we will follow up with a mechanical type of vegetation management, as well.”
The goats are needed in South Pasadena specifically because of its history with high wildfire risk. “In 2025 the State Fire Marshal released the new maps for the fire hazard severity zones, and the western and southwestern edge of the city [South Pasadena] are considered very high now,” shares Fire Chief Lloyd. Though the goats have brought their services to the Arroyo Seco and Monterey Hills areas in past months, this ongoing issue has caused their return.
When not at work, the goats are monitored by shepherds, who make sure that they are watered and fed, and sheepdogs, who herd and transport the goats. They are protected from potential predators by fencing, which serves a dual purpose both as protecting them and making sure they stay grazing within their designated spot.
However, some South Pasadena residents have voiced their concern about these animals. Since the goats may not have understanding of clear borders as to where they are allowed and not allowed to graze, they may go outside of the boundaries they would be given and unknowingly consume native plants important to the local habitat. The fire chief assures that it is a “ very passionate minority of people that tend to speak loud in those things,” and though “it’s [the fire department’s] responsibility too, to listen, and to be responsive to that, [they] also have to filter through what is accurate and true and what is more extreme [opinions]”. In response to the concerns of native plant consumption, the fire chief shares that the goats will not pose a threat. “Specifically with the toyon (a shrub native to the California area) and trees, and the goats stripping away the bark on some of the branches… would not affect the health of the tree, and was not going to affect the growth of the tree.” Fire Chief Lloyd referenced a technique called “girdling”, which he defined as “a complete 360 degree cut around the bark and the cambium of the tree, that will supposedly then prevent the tree from transmitting nutrients up and down… that’s a way that some people will use to actually kill the tree.” He shared that there were arborists on the scene, whose assessments confirmed that the goats were not doing harm to toyon and trees.
Many SPHS students reported not being aware of the goats having begun their service, or even that the goats were going to arrive. Despite this, they are supportive of their help and looking forward to their effects on the community.
“That sounds very exciting!” said freshman Rose Xia. “I am glad that South Pasadena is using such a creative solution to avoid wildfires; the goats will be a public spectacle. They’ll be very loved, very watched, and hopefully not very scary.”
“It may be the fact the goats do such a great job that we don’t need to bring them every year, that we could bring them every other year,” said Fire Chief Lloyd. But for now, “they are fenced, they’re monitored, and so we’re always keeping an eye on them, getting regular updates, and then we’ll look at the efficacy of the project when it’s done.”