Saturday March 7, 2026 | LANGFORD, BC [Posted at 11 am | Updated 3:52 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
If you’re clearing up your yard to remove potential fire-hazard vegetation, there’s a place in Langford where you can drop off that material.
The City of Langford’s Drop off FireSmart debris yard waste pop-up drop-off depots at 2955 Sooke Lake Road are available three Saturdays starting today: March 7, 14 and 21.
It’s a free service for Langford residents (ID showing local address is required).
Four hours on each date:
The facility will be open from 11 am to 3 pm on each of March 7, 14 and 21, monitored by staff and volunteers.
The site will only be open to residents during these designated times and will be monitored to ensure safe and appropriate use.
This is to assist residents in removing hazardous vegetation from their properties and enhance wildfire resilience.
Materials accepted:
Materials delivered to the site are separated for future processing: Suitable for chipping | Non-chippable (compost) | Invasive species
For material guidelines see: Langford.ca/Wildfire.
City of Langford FireSmart Coordinator Courtney Tremblay says non-chippable materials will be composted (most likely at Hartland Landfill), chippable materials will be collected and processed (including by Victoria Contracting), and invasive species trimmings will be burned.
Free trees:
A total of 100 fire-resistant trees are being offered to align with FireSmart principles and support the City’s goal of enhancing community wildfire resilience.
The trees are intended to help with canopy coverage in the City, which helps in hot weather.
Three species of trees are part of the giveaway:Big-leaf Maple; Garry Oak; and Persian Ironwood.
The giveaway trees were purchased by the City of Langford from Island View Nursery (wholesale) and Green Thumb Garden Centre (retail and wholesale).
City staff on-site today said those tree species are suitable for larger yards as the trees will become large over time.
Smaller more compact tree species will apparently be offered at future Langford yard works depot collection events as a more appropriate way to help people add foliage to smaller yards.
Raking tips:
Standing wet leaves get soggy, matted, and slippery. They are easier to clean up in thin layers.
Work in small sections with short raking strokes.
Wet leaves are heavier than dry ones — they’re sticky and harder to bag. Try collecting them first on a tarp and then transfer into bags or tub-style containers.
Participation:
Nearly 450 residents participated in the inaugural three-weekend depot program in November 2025. About 135 tonnes (360 cubic yards) of hazardous vegetation was taken in over three weekends in the fall season.
So far on this spring depot first day about 150 households brought material to the depot.
“We are pleased with the strong participation in our initial yard waste drop-off events held in November and commend the community for their collective efforts,” says Simon Chadwick, Assistant Chief, Langford Fire Rescue.
“By proactively managing their properties, residents are also contributing to the reduction of wildfire risk throughout the community.”
Urban-wildland interface:
There is urban/wildland interface in many parts of Langford. Langford Fire Rescue has worked for years to develop a Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan.
The pop-ups are funded from within a $200,000 grant that was received by the City of Langford last year, to support the west shore municipality’s wildfire mitigation efforts.
The funds will be used for the November drop-off depots as well as FireSmart educational workshops.
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For more information and project updates, visit: Wildfire Mitigation Program
===== RELATED:
- Langford FireSmart depots Nov 15, 22 & 29 (November 15, 2025)
- Langford’s wildfire preparedness gets $200K boost (November 6, 2025)
- NEWS SECTIONS: LANGFORD | WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT | FIREFIGHTERS