Look up your address at the CAL FIRE FHSZ Viewer. It takes about 30 seconds. You’ll see your zone level — High or Very High — and whether you’re in a State Responsibility Area (SRA) or Local Responsibility Area (LRA). Screenshot the result. You’ll need it for insurance conversations and to understand which agency has inspection authority over your property. Full explanation of FHSZ designations

Both designations require 100 feet of defensible space under California’s PRC 4291. Very High adds Zone 0 — a five-foot ember-resistant perimeter around your home using noncombustible materials. In San Diego County, Zone 0 is already required locally under Ordinance 10927. The statewide compliance deadline for existing homes is February 2027. Very High is also where the majority of insurance non-renewals are currently happening in San Diego County. Zone 0 explained in full

It depends on whether your property is in an SRA or LRA. SRA properties — most unincorporated East County areas including Alpine, Ramona, Julian, Descanso, Pine Valley, and Jamul — were reclassified effective April 1, 2024 and are already in effect. LRA properties in cities and some county areas require your local jurisdiction to formally adopt the 2025 State Fire Marshal maps. Contact your local fire agency to confirm your status before treating a reclassification as final. SRA vs. LRA — what it means for your property

San Diego County’s Consolidated Fire Code is stricter than the California baseline. Zone 1 extends to 50 feet (California law requires 30 feet). Zone 0 — the five-foot noncombustible perimeter — is already in effect locally under Ordinance 10927 Section 4907.9.1 regardless of state enforcement timing. Annual grasses must be cut to 4 inches maximum, branches raised to 6 feet above ground, and ladder fuels eliminated throughout all zones. San Diego County rules in full

A Very High designation puts your property in the same risk category as properties that have carried that designation for years — and that’s where most non-renewals are occurring in San Diego right now. Under Insurance Code 2644.9, you have a legal right to request your wildfire risk score from your insurer at any time — ask for it in writing. Documented mitigation work is the most effective tool you have: professional assessments, dated photos, and completion records are what make a risk score dispute viable. Received a non-renewal notice? Read this first

Yes. AB 888 — the California Safe Homes Act, effective January 1, 2026 — created a California Department of Insurance grant program for qualifying homeowners to fund fire-safe roof replacement and Zone 0 noncombustible zone work. If you’re on the FAIR Plan or in a qualifying income bracket, contact the CA Department of Insurance at 800-927-4357 or visit insurance.ca.gov.

CAL FIRE’s fire behavior modeling improved — not just the vegetation data. The updated methodology better captures how fire spreads through chaparral drainages and ridge systems, and critically, how embers travel well ahead of the fire front. In the 2007 Witch Creek Fire in San Diego’s East County, two out of three homes were ignited by wind-dispersed embers — not the fire front itself. South and southwest-facing slopes in Santa Ana wind corridors are among the highest-modeled risk terrains in California. Your property’s terrain position, not just the plants on it, drives the designation. Why the FHSZ map changed — the fire science