Cal Fire seeking input on wildfire hazard zones, defensible space
Public comment period for these changes will close on Tuesday, April 4
– After years of planning, Cal Fire’s Office of the State Fire Marshal recently released an update to an existing map that identifies fire hazard severity zones in California’s State Responsibility Area, or rural, unincorporated areas, based on the likelihood different areas will experience wildfire.
The public comment period for these changes will close on Tuesday, April 4 and Cal Fire is reminding community members to provide input before the deadline to the office of the State Fire Marshal. Updates to the City of San Luis Obispo’s Fire Hazard Severity Zones, also known as the local responsibility area are expected to be released later in 2023 after the state responsibility area zones are finalized. There will be a comment period for those proposed changes once they become available.
In the meantime, for changes to the state responsibility area zones:
Written comments may be submitted by U.S. mail to the following address:
Office of the State Fire Marshal
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
P.O. Box 944246
Sacramento, CA 94244-2460
Attn: Scott Witt, Deputy Chief
Written comments can also be hand delivered or sent by courier to Scott Witt at the following address:
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Office of the State Fire Marshal
C/O: Scott Witt
California Natural Resources Building
715 P Street, 9th floor
Sacramento, CA 95818
Written comments may also be delivered via e-mail at: fhszcomments@fire.ca.gov.
For more information on the proposed changes and where to provide public comment, please review this Cal Fire news release or visit the Fire Hazard Severity Zone website.
In addition to the FHSZ updates, Cal Fire is seeking input from residents and business owners via an online survey related to the development of a new defensible space zone that covers the 0-5 foot zone surrounding buildings to help inform cost estimates for the implementation of these new science-driven defensible space standards. The 5-10 minute survey is open through April 5.
For more information on how to prepare for wildfires, please visit www.slocity.org/wildfire and follow the fire department on Twitter and Instagram.
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