(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE, Wash. -Nicole Burrow said fire season hits close to her heart.
"I've always wanted to make an impact somehow, but didn't know how," Burrow said.
Back in 2009, she woke up in the middle of the night to find her home was engulfed in flames. She lost everything. But that lose was paled in comparison to what would happen to her brother-in-law. Burrow says he had terminal cancer, brought on by his years as a local firefighter.
"My brother-in-law died of multiple myeloma from fighting local fires here," Burrow said.
After doing some research, Burrow tells me she thinks she has found a way to stop fires before they even get a chance to start by using goats.
That's right, goats.
"The goats would be eating the debris on the ground which would directly impact the ability for the fire to spread," Burrow said.
She started a Go Fund Me page to raise money with the goal of purchasing 1,000 or even 2,000 goats. The money would also go towards land and transportation for the animals.
"Goats are sustainable, they're gentle on the environment and they'll eat just about anything," Burrow said.
I reached out to Nick Jeffries, the land owner assistant forester for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, and he said he saw first hand how goats worked to eat away brush for a woman who's home was surrounded by it. And he said, it worked.
"Really this goat process was a really good one," Jeffries said.
Jeffries did mention that this process only works for certain types of land, and not all goats will eat away at debris, but it can be a successful solution since brush is a ladder fuel in spreading fires.
If you would like to donate towards the "1000 goats" campaign, click here: https://www.gofundme.com/clean-air-firelines-goat-farm