Fire Hazard Severity Zones
Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone: what it means for your home
A Fire Hazard Severity Zone is a line on a state map. What it obliges you to do depends on the class of zone and on one thing most pages leave out: whether your land is in the State or the Local Responsibility Area. Here is what each combination triggers today, how to look yours up, and what the map does not do.
What your zone triggers today
Find your column, read down. "Local ordinance" means your city or county can impose it even where state law does not.
| State Responsibility Area any hazard class | Local area, Very High | Local area, High | Local area, Moderate or none | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 feet of defensible space in force now | Yes PRC 4291 | Yes Gov Code 51182 | Local ordinance only | Local ordinance only |
| Wildfire building standards for new construction roofs, vents, siding, windows, decks | Yes CBC Ch. 7A / CWUIC | Yes CBC Ch. 7A / CWUIC | Local ordinance only | Local ordinance only |
| Defensible space documentation when you sell AB 38 | If High or Very High Civil Code 1102.19 | Yes Civil Code 1102.19 | Yes Civil Code 1102.19 | No |
| Zone Zero — the first five feet withdrawn, not in force | Would apply | Would apply | Local ordinance only | Local ordinance only |
| Your insurance rate | Not set by the map in any zone — see below | |||
"Local ordinance only" is not a small caveat. Cities can extend these rules beyond the state's reach, and some have. The City of San Diego's Zone Zero ordinance, for example, is in force on its own authority. Local rules by area →
About the Zone Zero row. The Board of Forestry approved a statewide Zone Zero rule on August 19, 2026 and withdrew it from review on September 8, 2026. It is not law. If it returns in the form the Board approved, it would cover every structure in the State Responsibility Area and every occupied structure in a local Very High zone, so the columns above are the ones to watch. Where it stands →
Which state wildfire rules reach your property?
Three questions. This is orientation, not a determination — only the fire agency with jurisdiction over your address can tell you for certain.
Yes — and hazard class doesn't matter. In the State Responsibility Area the 100-foot defensible space law, Public Resources Code 4291, applies to you today, whatever your hazard class. What inspectors check →
Zone Zero would apply the same way, to every structure regardless of class, but the Board withdrew it from review on September 8, 2026 and it is not law. Your hazard class still matters in one place: selling. A High or Very High rating brings AB 38 disclosure.
Sources: PRC 4291; Informative Digest, Notice of Proposed Emergency Action, 20 August 2026.
Yes. In an adopted local Very High zone, Government Code 51182 already requires 100 feet of defensible space, and your local fire agency enforces it. The statewide Zone Zero rule would also reach you, but it was withdrawn and is not law.
Your local agency may also have its own Zone 0 ordinance that is stricter or on a different timeline. Check your jurisdiction →
Probably, once your city or county adopts the map. The State Fire Marshal recommends hazard zones; your local agency adopts them by ordinance under Gov Code 51179(a), within 120 days of receiving the recommendations.
Until that adoption happens, the designation your property sits in may not yet be the operative one. Call your local fire agency and ask whether the current maps have been adopted.
Mostly not, under state law. In a Local Responsibility Area, the state's 100-foot defensible space law and the Zone Zero rule reach only Very High zones.
Two exceptions. If your zone is High, AB 38 still applies when you sell: you must give the buyer defensible space documentation. And your city or county can extend any of this by ordinance, so check. The insurance discounts for the same work do not depend on your zone at all. See the insurance side →
State wildfire law does not reach you. A property in a Local Responsibility Area that sits in no fire hazard severity zone is outside the state defensible space law, AB 38 and the Zone Zero rule. Your city or county can still set its own rules.
The work still has value — the same measures earn documented insurance discounts regardless of your zone. See the insurance side →
Find this out first — everything else depends on it. The State Responsibility Area is where the state has primary financial responsibility for wildfire protection under PRC 4125. It excludes land inside city limits and federal land. Local Responsibility Areas are incorporated cities and certain unincorporated areas where local agencies provide fire protection.
Two ways to check: look your parcel up in CAL FIRE's Fire Hazard Severity Zone viewer, which shows both the responsibility area and the hazard class, or call the fire agency that would respond to your address and simply ask.
What a Fire Hazard Severity Zone actually is
The Office of the State Fire Marshal maps California into three classes: Moderate, High and Very High. The model behind the map weighs fire history, existing and potential vegetation, predicted flame length, blowing embers, terrain, and typical fire weather for the area.
It measures hazard, not risk, so your own work does not change your zone. The State Fire Marshal is explicit: the zones reflect physical conditions over a 30 to 50 year period "without considering mitigation measures such as home hardening, recent wildfire, or fuel reduction efforts." Risk, which accounts for those things, is a different measure. A house with perfect defensible space and a Class A roof sits in the same zone as its neglected neighbour.
That is also why the zone is a blunt instrument for your own decisions. It tells you what the law requires of you. It says little about how exposed your particular house is. Insurers, as it turns out, agree.
The maps were redrawn in 2024 and 2025
Both sets of maps are new, and in many places the zones grew. If you last checked before 2024, check again.
| Map | Status |
|---|---|
| State Responsibility Area | In effect since 1 April 2024 |
| Local Responsibility Area | Released in four phases, from 10 February 2025 to 24 March 2025, then passed to each city and county to adopt |
In the local area there are two maps: recommended and adopted
The State Fire Marshal only recommends local zones, under Government Code 51178. Your city or county then designates them by ordinance under Government Code 51179(a), within 120 days of receiving the recommendations. It must send the adopted ordinance and map to the Board of Forestry within 30 days (14 CCR 1280.02(a)). A local agency can also add areas the state did not recommend.
So the state viewer shows the recommendation. Whether it is the operative designation for your parcel depends on what your city or county adopted. The State Fire Marshal itself tells people to "contact your local jurisdiction" for areas in the Local Responsibility Area, because the state does not hold that answer.
How to look up your parcel
- Open CAL FIRE's Fire Hazard Severity Zone viewer and search your address. It shows both the responsibility area and the hazard class.
- Read the responsibility area first. If it says State Responsibility Area, the 100-foot defensible space law already applies to you whatever the hazard class, and the class matters mainly for disclosure when you sell.
- If it says Local Responsibility Area, read the class. Very High brings the state defensible space law. High brings disclosure at sale. Moderate brings neither, unless your city says otherwise.
- Then call your local fire agency and ask two questions. Is my parcel in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone? Has the current map been adopted by ordinance? The second question is the one hardly anyone asks, and it decides whether the designation is operative.
If your parcel straddles two zones
How a split parcel resolves is a local decision, and it varies. Ventura County applies the highest, most restrictive rating to the whole property under its Administrative Ruling 26-804. Other agencies do it differently. Ask yours.
What the zone does not do: set your insurance rate
This is the question behind a lot of searches for "very high fire hazard severity zone", and the answer comes from the regulator. On 19 March 2024 the California Department of Insurance issued a consumer alert headed "CAL FIRE hazard maps do not affect insurance rates or availability." Insurers use their own wildfire risk models to decide where they write and renew policies and what they charge.
What does move your premium is mitigation work. California's Safer from Wildfires regulation requires insurers that price on wildfire risk to discount for it, and the FAIR Plan's schedule runs to 16.4% off the wildfire portion of a premium. Unlike the zone, that work is something you control. How the discounts work →
Selling a home in a High or Very High zone
AB 38, in Civil Code 1102.19, requires the seller to give the buyer documentation that the property complies with defensible space law. It applies in High and Very High zones, in either responsibility area. If the documentation cannot be had before closing, buyer and seller sign a written agreement that the buyer will obtain it. Where a local ordinance sets the timeline, the ordinance applies. Where none does, the statute gives the buyer one year from close of escrow. What sellers have to provide →
Three details that decide edge cases
In the State Responsibility Area, hazard class is not the test
The 100-foot defensible space duty in Public Resources Code 4291 applies across the State Responsibility Area, Moderate included. The withdrawn Zone Zero package was written the same way. The Board's own digest said it would apply to "all buildings or structures within the State Responsibility Area, regardless of fire hazard severity classification." Pages that say "SRA or Very High" imply you need a Very High rating either way. In the SRA, you do not.
What counts as a structure
For defensible space, a structure is anything built to shelter people, animals or property, with a permanent roof on walls or posts. The withdrawn August 2026 package would have spelled out the edge cases. An attached deck, stairs or pergola counts as part of the structure, and so does a free-standing one within one foot of it. A noncombustible patio does not. A shed under 120 square feet that nobody lives in is an "outbuilding" with its own rule. Until a package is refiled, treat those as the Board's stated intent rather than law. Requirements →
A neighbour's new building cannot put you out of compliance
The same package said so in terms: a new structure on a neighbouring property, including an accessory dwelling unit, cannot require you to create more defensible space or make you non-compliant. It is a small provision that matters a great deal to anyone whose neighbour is building an ADU near the line. It sits in the withdrawn text, 14 CCR 1298.04(a) and 1299.03(c), so it is not law yet either.
Rules where you live
- All jurisdictionsWhy local rules differ, and how to find yours
- City of San DiegoMoved first — existing homes from February 2027
- Ventura County FPDHigh and Very High zones, free AB 38 inspection
Sources: Office of the State Fire Marshal, Fire Hazard Severity Zones (map dates, model factors, hazard-versus-risk definition, viewer); California Department of Insurance consumer alert, 19 March 2024; Public Resources Code 4125 and 4291; Government Code 51178, 51179 and 51182; Civil Code 1102.19 (2025); California Building Code Chapter 7A and California Wildland-Urban Interface Code; 14 CCR 1280.02(a); Board of Forestry Notice of Proposed Emergency Action and Informative Digest, 20 August 2026; 14 CCR 1298.02, 1298.04(a), 1299.02, 1299.03(c) as proposed; Ventura County Fire Department Administrative Ruling 26-804; Office of Administrative Law, file 2026-0828-03E.