Cal Fire to Ramp Up Defensible Space Inspections

LOST SIERRA — Cal Fire’s Nevada Yuba Placer Unit has announced that it will perform an increasing number of inspections to ensure properties maintain defensible space in the coming months. Timing of those inspections will depend on ease of access to communities and properties as snowpack melts. All employees assigned to perform inspections will be in a fire engine or a marked Defensible Space Inspector vehicle with uniformed personnel and credentials.

California’s Public Resources Code 4291 states that property owners in state responsibility areas must maintain 100 feet of defensible space surrounding structures within their property lines. Any part of a tree within 10 feet of the outlet of a stovepipe or chimney must be removed, as well as any dead or dying wood adjacent to or overhanging a building. The roof must also be free of leaves, needles, or other vegetative materials. The code presents the standard that “fuels shall be maintained and spaced in a condition so that a wildfire would be unlikely to ignite the structure.”

Cal Fire is also implementing “Zone 0” regulations, which would create much stricter rules forbidding flammable materials within 5 feet of a structure. When exactly those regulations will go into effect remains unclear, but Governor Newsom has set a deadline for the end of 2025 through a February executive order. Workshops and public review are ongoing.

More information about defensible space and fire preparation can be found at www.readyforwildfire.org.