Who we are
We are a group of Conejo Valley residents (City of Thousand Oaks, CA plus unincorporated areas) who live in neighborhoods designated as Very High or High Fire Severity Zones.
2025 is an important year for California’s effort to harden homes and neighborhoods against ember spread firestorms.
The new Fire Severity Map changes the zones for many homes in SoCal suburban and urban neighborhoods that are close to open space. Even more important, the long awaited Zone 0 property risk mitigation requirements will be adopted by the Board of Forestry, and three years later, enforced by local fire jurisdictions.
You should know your home’s zone and what it could mean for your risk mitigation responsibilities/expenses, insurance costs, property enjoyment, and resale value.
The science behind the zone 0 regulation proposals is controversial. The potential cost, damage to the environment, loss of enjoyment, wildlife habitat, and cooling during hot summers is not being shared by state and local fire agencies.
Local fire jurisdictions are busy getting the word out to communities about the benefits of creating an ember resistant 5 foot zone (Zone 0) around their homes.
Few residents are told that the final risk mitigation requirements will be expensive for homeowners and could impact their enjoyment of their home as well as its resale value. They also aren’t told that the science behind removing irrigated plants from zone 0 is questionable.
Look up your home on the 2025 Fire Severity Map. Scroll down the page to the - Explore Fire Hazard Severity Zones – click on ‘view map on cell/tablet device' link if needed.
Start entering your address and select it when it appears in the drop down.
Red is very high, Orange is high, and Ventura County elected to include both colors in the soon-to-be-adopted mitigation requirements.
When you enter an address, the map will zoom in on that neighborhood and show a black icon for the address. You can zoom out and move the map around to see other neighborhoods.
The text will provide your responsibility area and the fire hazard severity zone the property is in based on the 2025 fire hazard map (FHSZ). [see example below] The current draft of the Zone 0 requirements is here
The basic facts:
In 2020, California enacted Assembly Bill 3074, mandating the creation of an “ember-resistant zone”—referred to as “Zone 0”—within five feet of structures in designated high fire hazard areas. This initiative aims to reduce the risk of homes igniting from wind-driven embers during wildfires, a leading cause of multiple-structure fires.
Despite the law’s passage, implementation has faced delays. Originally set to take effect in 2023, the regulations have not been finalized, leaving fire control districts, municipalities, builders, and homeowners uncertain about compliance requirements.
In response, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-18-25 in February 2025, directing the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to expedite the adoption of Zone 0 regulations. The goal is to have these regulations in place by the end of 2025.
Key Aspects of Zone 0:
Scope: Zone 0 encompasses the area within five feet of a structure, including courtyards, attached decks and stairs.
Requirements: The regulations will likely limit or prohibit combustible materials such as wooden fences, mulch, and most or all vegetation within this zone. Exceptions may include large, well-maintained mature trees depending on their height and branches.
Applicability: Once finalized, the rules will apply immediately to new constructions - and permitted improvements - in State Responsibility Areas and Local Responsibility Areas with Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone ratings. Existing structures will have three years to achieve compliance.
Stakeholders:
The development of Zone 0 regulations has involved collaboration among certain stakeholders, including CAL FIRE, the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Office of the State Fire Marshal, local fire agencies, insurance companies, electricity generators, and government/industry funded nonprofits. This approach was supposed to ensure that the regulations were practical and considered the diverse needs of California’s communities. What’s missing from this list? Homeowners! and Wildland ecologists!
Addressing Concerns:
Many experts have raised objections to the accuracy of the science behind the recommendations. Homeowners have expressed concerns about the potential costs and quality of life impacts of complying with Zone 0 requirements. To address these concerns, community members here and elsewhere are asking to have concerns taken seriously.
Our Take: (Zone Zero-Conejo Valley)
A one-size-fits-all approach fails to recognize the vast differences between homes in rural environments and the relatively small lots found in suburban communities. The new risk mitigation regulations should reflect these differences.
The Board of Forestry wants homeowners and communities to accept the Zone 0 regulations as a necessary sacrifice. They are minimizing the harms, ignoring scientific input that interferes with their goals, and hoping to push these regulations through before the public catches on.
We are questioning the science behind the mandated removal of well irrigated, high moisture plants from Zone 0. Videos circulated by CAL FIRE and insurance companies are staged using very low moisture vegetation, creating the impression that well irrigated plants are a major reason for ember ignited house fires. It appears that millions of Southern California homes will be forced to make expensive, potentially harmful modifications to their properties if these regulatons are adopted.
Moving Forward:
Implementation of Zone 0 regulations is a reasonable step toward enhancing community fire resilience. Homeowners will cooperate if they are included in a process that has good science behind the mandates and flexibility in implementation that takes finances, protection of the environment, enjoyment of nature, and reasonable use of property into account.
Explore this website for more information about common sense approaches to managing fire risk in the Wildland Urban Interface.
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