- The Office of the State Fire Marshal continues the public comment period for the regulatory adoption process to update the existing map that captures Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ), which is a comprehensive map that ranks California’s State Responsibility Area (SRA)—or rural, unincorporated areas—based on the likelihood different areas will experience wildfire. This current revision only updates areas in California’s unincorporated, rural areas where wildfires tend to be frequent—called the “SRA” or “State Responsibility Area.” This does not include cities or large urban areas.
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If you own or plan develop property within the State Responsibility Area (SRA), CAL FIRE has released new DRAFT maps designating the Fire Hazard Severity Zone for your property. You may see how your property has been designated by clicking here.
- Your designation can affect availability and affordability of fire insurance for structures on your property. It can also affect the ability to develop your land and the types of mitigation you may be required to perform.
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The only way to reduce or eliminate these zone designations is to provide comments to CAL FIRE, demonstrating that the data relied upon in producing these maps is out of date or inaccurate. This can be done by providing more recent/accurate data for your property. The data they relied on may be found by clicking here.
You will note that the date the data was collected can be accessed for some items by placing your cursor on your property and click. This is especially true for the vegetation data and the slope data. You may also have more recent data on whether your property is urbanized or any of the other characteristics.
Comments are due April 4. After that, the maps will be reviewed based on your input.
Written comments may be submitted by U.S. mail to the following address:
Office of the State Fire Marshal
C/O: FHSZ Comments
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
P.O. Box 944246
Sacramento, CA 94244-2460
Written comments can also be hand delivered or sent by courier to the contact person listed in this notice at the following address:
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Office of the State Fire Marshal
C/O: Scott Witt
California Natural Resources Building
715 P Street, 9th floor
Sacramento, CA 95818
Written comments may also be delivered via e-mail at the following address:
