Give input on maps that define highest wildfire risk areas

Berkeleyans can provide input on whether the City should adopt or expand state-defined “fire hazard severity zones” – areas where Berkeley property owners are already required to remove vegetation, mulch, fences, or other flammable materials next to their homes while also reducing vegetation within 100 feet.

New home construction and remodels in these state-defined zones will continue to require “home hardening,” the term used to describe materials and building methods more resistant to flames and embers.

CAL FIRE labels zones as “fire hazard severity zones” primarily because of their proximity to wildlands – such as the areas on Berkeley’s Eastern border that form the primary threat for wildfire to enter Berkeley. These wildland-bordering neighborhoods are critical for slowing or stopping a wildfire. High winds, heat, and dry conditions can quickly propel flames and embers down the hills to jump from home to home. Numerous, simultaneous structure fires are extremely hard to defend.

Berkeley Fire will use these maps as a foundation to develop a more comprehensive risk map to determine fire-fighting and prevention strategies. This eventual model would include factors such as housing type, age, density, fire modeling, and extent of “hardened” homes, as well as the evacuation capacity of the winding, hillside roads.

Berkeley Fire will use these comments as the City weighs whether to expand these boundaries at an April 15 City Council meeting. State law prevents cities from shrinking the boundaries.

See CAL FIRE’s proposed “very high fire hazard” boundaries and provide your comments on our online forum by 5:00 pm on Tuesday, April 1.

City resources can help you reduce vegetation

Regardless of whether a home is in the highest hazard zone, all homeowners can reduce wildfire risk by eliminating all flammable materials within 5 feet of a home and thinning out vegetation on a property.

In the highest risk areas, personalized inspection reports help guide you to required work, which varies depending on your particular threat of wildfire.

The City offers seasonal programs to reduce excess vegetation as well as a checklist to self-inspect your property.

To learn more about services to help you reduce the vegetation around your home, see our Fire Fuel Chipper and Vegetation Debris Bin page.

Building materials and strategies also reduce fire risk

Home hardening is the process of making a home more resistant to wildfires by using fire-resistant materials and construction methods.

Home hardening includes construction features such as:

• a non-combustible roof
• ember-resistant vents
• gutter guards
• non-combustible exterior walls
• double-paned windows
• decks made from approved, non-combustible materials

When coupled with removing flammable materials adjacent to the home and thinning out vegetation throughout a property, these actions can significantly increase structure survival rates during a wildfire.

Learn more using CAL FIRE’s “home hardening guide.”

CAL FIRE map is one point of reference for risk

Cal Fire’s map – which Berkeley Fire is expecting to bring for City Council adoption on April 15, 2025 – is not the main reason to reduce fire risk around your home. Wildfire is – and so are lower insurance rates.

Reducing fire risk can help you lower your insurance rates, according to the state Department of Insurance. For homeowners, these maps are “unlikely to affect their insurance,” the state Insurance department states, but “insurance companies must provide discounts for wildfire safety actions such as community mitigation and home-hardening.”

The highest wildfire risks can be seen on the map. But regardless of where you live, you can reduce fire risk by using the same principles: eliminate flammable materials within 5 feet of your home and thin out vegetation on your property. You can use City resources to achieve these goals.

Give input on the map by 5:00 pm on April 1 to let us know if there are other factors to consider.