"The two groups took turns pointing out homes that seemed to support their claims. The copious, contradictory anecdotal evidence provided no consensus for a path forward. For example, in the Eaton burn area, officials showed residents a home they claimed was spared thanks to its removal of vegetation near the home, but residents noted a home across the street with plenty of plants that also survived."
"Initial attempts by the board to create Zone Zero regulations, as required by a 2020 law, quietly fizzled out after fire officials and experts struggled to agree on how to navigate a lack of authoritative evidence for what strategies actually help protect a home - and what was reasonable to ask of residents. The Jan. 1, 2023, deadline to create the regulations came and went with little fanfare."
Proposed Zone Zero regulations would require homeowners to create ember-resistant zones around houses in fire-prone areas. The proposals provoked uproar in Brentwood and concern in Altadena as officials visited neighborhoods to explain the rules. Officials and residents pointed to contradictory anecdotal examples of homes that survived or burned, producing no clear consensus about effective measures. Initial efforts to craft regulations under a 2020 law stalled amid disagreement and a lack of authoritative evidence about what protects homes and what is reasonable to require. A Jan. 2023 deadline passed, and a gubernatorial order later revived the effort, prompting alarm as the board moved to restart and accelerate rulemaking.
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