SACRAMENTO, California — California wildfire regulators adopted first-in-the-nation rules requiring people in fire-prone regions to clear flammable material from the area around their homes on Wednesday after years of delays and concerns about costs.
What happened: The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection voted unanimously to require homeowners in the state’s highest-risk fire areas to reduce flammable material within 5 feet of their homes, an area known as “Zone Zero.” This is considered to be the most dangerous area for embers to land during a wildfire because it increases the chance that fire will spread to homes.
The new rules apply to roughly 2 million structures in California, and generally bar things like wood mulch, firewood, wood fences and dead vegetation within Zone Zero, while still allowing for some maintained plants and trees.
The final version of the rules is less restrictive than earlier proposals. Los Angeles officials and residents, particularly residents of fire-prone communities, pushed back on earlier versions over concerns about high costs and losing mature shade trees. Regulators ultimately gave homeowners more flexibility to keep vegetation if it is properly maintained and separate from buildings, and provided local governments with the option to craft their own rules. They also extended the deadline for existing homes to comply by up to five years.
