The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) has released new fire-hazard severity maps that significantly expand the areas designated for fire safety regulations. These maps, unveiled on a recent Monday, cover 15 counties in Central California, including agricultural regions in the Central Valley. Many of these areas previously had no fire-hazard designations at all.
The new maps add over 1.2 million acres to fire-hazard zones, with more than 300,000 acres falling into severity zones where strict fire safety rules apply. Counties like Monterey and San Luis Obispo have seen their fire-hazard acreages increase dramatically—by more than four and five times, respectively. For instance, the city of Monterey’s high-hazard zones have doubled from just over 1,100 acres to over 2,200 acres, while San Luis Obispo saw its hazardous zones grow from around 750 acres to more than 3,400.
This rollout is the first major update in over a decade for areas where local fire departments are responsible for fire response. Previously, Cal Fire only mapped "very high" severity zones. The new maps introduce "high" and "moderate" severity zones for the first time, as mandated by California’s legislature in 2021. This law also extends many fire safety regulations, including stricter building codes, to the new "high" zones.
Cal Fire is releasing these maps in stages, with the Central Coast and Valley regions being the latest to receive updates. The agency plans to release maps for Southern California on March 24. The changes are based on updated climate and weather data, as well as new methods for estimating how far fire can spread into urban areas from wildlands.
Local governments will now have about five months to gather public input on these new maps, adopt them, and start implementing the heightened regulations. While local jurisdictions can opt to increase the severity of certain areas, they cannot reduce it.
Cal Fire emphasizes that these hazard maps measure the likelihood of wildfires occurring in an area, not the risk of specific homes being damaged. The agency’s approach considers vegetation and climate data to assess the potential intensity of fires. This means that even agricultural areas, which make up much of the Central Valley, are treated similarly to urban zones in terms of fire risk.
As California continues to face the threat of wildfires, these new maps aim to enhance safety measures and better prepare communities for potential fire hazards.