The California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention will begin rolling out the much-anticipated update to the Fire Hazard Severity Zone on Monday.
Previously, the state only mapped and applied fire safety regulations to areas with fire hazards that are likely to be considered “very high.” However, in 2021, the state legislature ordered the CAL fire to expand its mapping to include “high” hazard zones, allowing legislature to apply fire safe building regulations to the new “high” zones.
The new map is currently expected to expand around 800,000 acres to the local fire jurisdiction, which is currently zoned as “very expensive” with the addition of 247,000 acres. Approximately 1.16 million acres will be classified as the new “high” zone, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
Cal Fire also releases a new “moderate” hazard zone, the lowest hazard classification rarely referenced in fire safety regulations, but it did not include the number of acres.
Since 2011, agents have not released maps of these regions. Since 2011, city and county lands where local fire stations are responsible for responding to fires, not CAL fires.
Cal Fire was originally scheduled to release the map in January, but the Los Angeles fire stopped its deployment. CAL Fire Authorities said many of the agency’s mapping officials, including scientists, are supporting fire and recovery efforts, and do not want to burden communities already facing difficult tasks of reconstruction.
However, the agency was mandated as Gavin Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Thursday, and then, in part, ordered Cal Fire to release maps.
The agency will begin its deployment by releasing a map of Northern California inland on Monday. Cal Fire added a map of coastal Northern California on February 24th, a map of Southern California including Central Coast and Central Valley, and LA, San Bernardino and San Diego County on March 24th. Issued.
Once released, the new map will be sent to hundreds of cities and counties throughout the state. They will have four months to adopt the map and begin applying enhanced fire safety regulations. Local jurisdictions may choose to increase hazard areas or ratings, but they cannot be reduced.
Severity Zones are referenced in at least 50 different laws, codes, grants, and other state rules and documents.
Many regulations apply only to new construction and critical repairs or modifications. These include the construction of Chapter 7, in order to construct a “very high” zone, which involves the use of ignition-resistant materials. Includes reference code. Cover the vents that allow embers to enter the house and cause ignition from the inside, and install multi-pan or fire-resistant windows.
In 2021, the state passed a law requiring local jurisdictions to consider fire risks in local land use plans as well as individual structures in “very high” hazard zones. For example, the government must now take into account evacuation routes and peak stresses for water supply that may occur during disasters. You will also need to find important public facilities such as hospitals and emergency command centers outside of high-risk areas “when possible.”
Cal Fire will map out the Wildland area, which is responsible for fire response, and the more developed regions of the state where local fire departments are responsible for managing the fire. The agency released a new map for state-managed areas in September 2023. However, for over a decade, we have not released maps for locally managed areas.
Cal Fire tells fire safety advocates that it plans to update its maps about every five years now.
This release occurred shortly after Cal Fire recognized a weakness in the model approach, resulting in the analysis of the Times that only zoning 21% of the Altadena properties within the boundaries of the Eaton Fire.
Cal Fire said the new maps primarily leave these weaknesses, given that new scientific approaches to addressing the problem remain so underdeveloped and experimental.
However, the agency has adjusted the model slightly, resulting in an increase in acres that are “very high” zoned, including using more detailed climate and extreme weather data.
This is a developing story.
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