Cal Fire map shows more than half of city in wildfire hazard zones
Following updates earlier this year to the state’s Wildfire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ) map identifying the danger of wildfires throughout local and state jurisdictions, municipalities will need to adopt ordinances increasing impacts to developers and residents based on the zone a property falls within.
Intended to enhance wildfire preparedness across the state, the new map breaks up fire hazard areas across all local and state jurisdictions into three color-coded categories. Yellow indicates “moderate” hazard zones; orange is “high” and red is “very high.”
The map was created by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) under the direction of the State Fire Marshall and is the first update since an initial map was developed between 2007 and 2011.
Cal Fire relied on scientific data and field-tested models to determine the severity of fire hazards across the state. Factors that influence fire likelihood and spread include natural vegetation, terrain, climate condition, weather patterns and fire history.
Previously, the maps for local responsibility areas only specified “very high” Fire Hazard Severity Zones and, in Calistoga, had identified 370 acres in red, southwest of Foothill Boulevard. The new map shows that area has now been downgraded to high and moderate zones.
While the new map designates less land in Calistoga’s red zone – 213 acres on the northeast side of town along Silverado Trail – it now includes 629 acres marked in orange and, moving toward the valley floor, identifies another 247 acres in yellow.
Jed Matcham, Calistoga’s fire chief and city spokesperson, said at a City Council meeting last month that by acre, about 51% of the city falls into one of the three hazard zones.
“It will affect many, many parcels and many people in the city,” Matcham said. “What it results in is different building standards that are applied in these zones. When people build a new house or when they do a major remodel on a house, the materials that they use on the outside of the structure have to be more fire-resistant than structures that are not in the fire hazard zones.”
Those whose property falls within the very high hazard zone will experience the greatest impacts. Developers and residents in those areas will be subject to increased California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reviews, must adhere to the California Building Code’s wildland fire provisions and must maintain defensible space around their homes, among other impacts.
For new construction, the guidelines will take effect in January 2026.
Matcham said if a parcel straddles two different zones, city staff suggests the higher zone designation is applied to the full parcel in order to effectively administer fire protection guidelines and to avoid inconsistent application of the zone designations within the same property. The city, he said, is not permitted to put these parcels in the lower of the two zones.
State law mandates municipalities to adopt ordinances designating the zones within 120 days of receiving the recommendations – which for Calistoga was on Feb 24. At the last Council meeting, council members opted to continue a public hearing on the matter into the May 20 meeting, as multiple residents expressed concerns about the regulations potentially driving up insurance rates and decreasing property values.
Calistogan Dan Herndon, a retired Cal Fire captain, said his home is now in the very high fire zone and that he is concerned about being forced to implement new defensible space and home-hardening, as well as the impacts to the local housing market.
“I do think it’s going to affect values. People that want to come in and buy a house, (it’s) going to be very hard to find insurance,” he said at the meeting. “I think what (Cal Fire) is doing is not right. They’re encouraging (state responsibility area) rules and regulations in our local responsibility area, and it is going to have a big impact on us as homeowners and people that want to buy a home.”
In the last decade, destructive wildfires have ravaged the state, triggering billions of dollars in insurance claims and causing many insurance agencies to either leave California completely or put a freeze on the sale of new policies, especially in high-risk areas.
Last April, State Farm, the largest insurer for homeowners in California, announced plans to drop 72,000 of its policy holders across the state, including 50% of its homeowner policies in the Calistoga ZIP code. Earlier this week, the state granted State Farm an emergency rate hike which will allow the insurance company to temporarily charge an additional 17% for homeowner policies beginning in June.
Amidst the rollout of the new Fire Hazard Severity Zones, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a statement ensuring the maps will not impact insurance rates or coverage.
“The Cal Fire hazard maps are not used for insurance rates or underwriting decisions,” Lara said. “But they will empower communities with more accurate information about the very real hazards we face. The reality is we all need to do more to protect our homes and communities from wildfires.”
