Emergency 5-foot regulations that seek to fortify fire-prone properties passed through the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection last week with unanimous approval. 

The rules now head to the state’s Office of Administrative Law.

If approved there, the rules will apply to new construction immediately.

Upon adoption, firewood, dead tree branches and branches within 10 feet of chimneys would have to be removed from all existing homes immediately.

Beyond that, property owners of existing homes would have three years to implement most of the rules, and five years for a select few regulations.

“The regulations will make our community safer,” Board Chair Terrance O’Brien said. “Waiting and postponing is not, in my opinion, an option. It is the responsibility entrusted to the board by the state of California to address the crisis of wildfire in our communities. These regulations move us in a positive direction.”

The Rules

Under the rules, property owners within State Responsibility Area and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones in Local Responsibility Areas must remove or modify combustible items located within 5 feet of their home.

That 5-foot stretch is known as Zone 0. Removing combustible items from a structure’s Zone 0 would reduce the risk of that building igniting in a wildfire and give it a “fighting chance,” Yana Valachovic, technical advisor to the board, said at last week’s meeting.  

Combustible items include mulch, vines, firewood, dead leaves, wood chips, branches, dead and dying vegetation — anything that can and will easily burn.

Any live or dead vegetation would also have to be removed within a minimum of 1 foot of a structure or up to the edge of a structure’s roof eave, whichever is longer. 

Trees would be allowed, but branches must be at least 10 feet away from chimneys. Branches must also be trimmed to 5 feet above roofs and would be prohibited under eaves.

The rules further limit the height of certain non-woody plants, such as herbaceous plants and succulents, to under 18 inches when located within 5 feet of a structure.

A lawn is allowed between 1 foot and 5 feet from a structure, but it is limited to a maximum of 3 inches tall for affected properties. 

Flammable items and vegetation are barred from under decks, stairs and balconies. 

Within five years, property owners would be required to create an “under-eave safety zone,” where all vegetation is removed under a property’s eaves.

Also within five years, any gates made of combustible materials, such as wood, would have to be replaced with a non-combustible material, such as metal.

Any sheds, fences and outbuildings within 5 feet of a building must also be replaced with exterior non-combustible materials, also within five years.

Alternatives to the rules are allowed, but those must be approved by a local city or county.

State grant funding for property owners to adapt to those Zone 0 rules should also be available this fall, if the rules go into effect, per board staff. 

These emergency regulations will apply indefinitely unless the board decides to update them.

See the full regulations here.

Click here to see if a property is located in one of the areas subject to the Zone 0 rules.

Why Now?

These rules come at a “pivotal moment” for the state of California, as put by Valachovic, who is also the University of California Cooperative Extension’s county director and forest advisor in the Humboldt and Del Norte Counties.

Over the past decade, Valachovic said, 57,000 homes in California have been destroyed by wildfire, and 14 million acres have burned. 

On average — between utility bills and insurance increases — Californians are paying, per household, $3,000 a year in increased costs because of the state’s fire conditions, she said. 

“California faces an existential crisis that has affected our health, that has affected our finances, that has affected our… ability to buy and sell homes, to insure homes, and has put us in a very precarious place,” she told the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection last week. 

Valachovic said the state has been working on these regulations since 2021. 

“It’s not acceptable to continue to burn up communities,” she said.

The emphasis, staff said, will be on education, not harsh penalties. The goal is for fire agencies to work with individual property owners to bring properties into compliance. 

Board members last Wednesday asked clarification questions, but ultimately agreed that the regulations are needed.

Many public commenters offered their support, while some said the rules were too strict.

Others, like Jeff Bloom, argued they should be stronger.

Bloom urged the board to make the rules permanent – not just under an emergency ordinance — and said they should be the floor, not the ceiling. 

“Follow the science,” he said. 

A handful of former or current fire officials also spoke, such as Todd Lando, a battalion chief with Central Marin Fire Department.

Lando said he had advocated for a simple, strict standard: nothing combustible within 5 feet, rather than the carve-outs in the rules approved by the board.

“Every judgment call is a dispute waiting to happen, and every dispute lessens compliance and increases risk. This is a real cost and a real residual risk,” he said. “I’m saying this not to oppose adoption, but to be honest about the trade-off.” 

Commenter Phyllis Aguilera asked if the regulations would apply to sovereign tribal lands. Staff said, to the best of their knowledge, they would not. 

Regulations governing Zone 1 and Zone 2 in high-fire-risk communities — the areas 5 to 30 feet, and 30 to 100 feet from a building, respectively — may also return for state approval in the future. 

However, because those aren’t considered emergency regulations, it may be some time, per board staff.