Different Kind of Horsepower Clears Fire Debris : Environment: Draft team removes brush and charred wood from 1991 blaze in Oakland hills. The animals do less damage to the countryside than would heavy equipment.

The question for University of California officials was how to clear fire debris from the hills above campus without scarring the ecologically sensitive canyon.

The answer? A horse, of course.

Genny and Jed, to be precise, draft horses hired to haul away charred eucalyptus trunks damaged in the 1991 fire that ravaged the hills above Berkeley and Oakland.

Heavy equipment may pack more horsepower than the snorting pair, but they are a lot gentler on the environment, said Dale Sanders, a senior planner at UC Berkeley.

“As stewards of the campus we feel that this really had to be done carefully,” Sanders said.

On a recent visit to the fire area, the jingle of harness punctuated the buzz of chain saws as Genny plied her trade.

“Easy! Haw! Haw!” cried driver Randy Clayton as he led the horse and her cargo down a steep slope to a collection area. Genny, with her platinum blond mane and black blinders, left behind only about a six-foot-wide path of disturbed earth that Sanders said would quickly heal.

Behind the horses, the green slopes of Claremont Canyon stretched to a blue sky. In front, San Francisco Bay glittered in the sun, dotted with the tiny white triangles of sailboats.

Clayton said it beats working in an office.

The Santa Cruz resident, who has eight steeds in his “Draft Horses for Hire” company, is removing hundreds of fire-damaged trees from 2 1/2 acres of university-owned land. The idea is to avoid a repeat of the 1991 disaster when a wind-whipped brush fire raced up the hills, feeding on acres of dry tinder.

The drought that stoked the ’91 fire is over. But Oakland Fire Capt. Don Parker said this year’s rains may prove just as hazardous, fostering a springtime spurt of undergrowth that will eventually dry out over the summer.

“Virtually every fire district and jurisdiction in the San Francisco Bay area is involved with trying to reduce this fuel load,” he said.

This isn’t the first time four-legged troops have been called in for fire hazard reduction, Parker said. A herd of goats grazed on grassy slopes last year.

But the horses are attracting the main attention this year, with nary a naysayer in sight.

“Horses. Isn’t that slick,” Parker said.