"Depending on whom you talk to, the proposed new defensible space rules for "zone zero" will help save homes in very high fire hazard severity zones, or decimate much of Southern California's urban tree canopy without really deterring the types of wildland fires that destroyed much of Altadena, Pacific Palisades and Malibu earlier this year. Either way, the state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection's Zone 0 Advisory Committee will likely get an earful of comments during its public meeting Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Pasadena Convention Center. The committee will be presenting its proposed rules for creating "fire defensible spaces" or "ember-resistant zones" within five feet of buildings in very high fire hazard severity zones protected by city and county firefighters as well as all areas protected by state firefighters. These five-foot-wide buffers are now widely known as "zone zero.""
"The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection was initially tasked with creating specific zone zero regulations in 2020, after the Legislature passed Assembly Bill 3074, said Yana Valachovic, a technical adviser to the board who wears many hats as the county director and forest advisor for both the UC Cooperative Extension in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, as well as for the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network."
The state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection's Zone 0 Advisory Committee proposed specific defensible-space rules establishing five-foot 'zone zero' ember-resistant buffers around buildings in very high fire hazard severity zones and all areas protected by state firefighters. The rules would ban landscaping materials likely to ignite from embers within zone zero, including grass, ornamental and native plants, shrubs, fallen leaves, tree needles, weeds and combustible mulches. The board was tasked by Assembly Bill 3074 in 2020 and received an extended deadline from the governor after recent devastating fires. A public meeting will solicit comments on the proposed regulations.
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