California Fire Hazard Severity Zones

CAL FIRE’s Office of the State Fire Marshal maps Fire Hazard Severity Zones across California. This guide explains what the zones mean, how state, local and federal areas differ, and how to look up any location on Outpost’s free map.

Data as of October 23, 2026; refreshed monthly.

Screening only — not a legal or official determination. Verify with the issuing agency.

What a fire hazard severity zone is

The State Fire Marshal classifies land as Moderate, High or Very High fire hazard. The classes come from the conditions that drive wildfire: vegetation (fuel), terrain, typical fire weather, fire history and how likely an area is to be reached by blowing embers. The zones describe long-term conditions, not a forecast for this year’s fire season.

CAL FIRE draws a clear line between hazard and risk. Hazard is about the land and its fuels. Risk would also count things a zone map leaves out, such as defensible space, fuel reduction work and how a building is constructed. Two homes in the same zone can face very different risk.

State, local and federal areas

Who is responsible for fighting wildland fire decides which map applies:

• State Responsibility Area (SRA): land where the State of California is financially responsible for wildland fire protection, mostly unincorporated land outside cities and outside federal ownership. Outpost shows CAL FIRE’s 2024 zone map for the SRA.
• Local Responsibility Area (LRA): cities and other areas where local government provides fire protection. In 2025 the State Fire Marshal released recommended zone maps for these areas. Each city or county adopts them by ordinance. It can add zones or raise a zone’s class, but not remove or lower one, so the adopted map can include more, or higher, zones than the recommended one. Outpost shows the recommended 2025 maps.
• Federal Responsibility Area (FRA): national forests and other federal land, which CAL FIRE’s zones don’t classify. Here Outpost shows the USDA Forest Service’s Wildfire Hazard Potential, a national map of where vegetation could support intense fire that is hard to control, in five classes from very low to very high. The Forest Service describes it as a long-term planning tool, not a forecast and not a map of risk.

What a zone can mean for a property

What applies depends on the area and the zone class, and cities and counties can add their own rules. The local building department or fire agency can say what applies to a specific property.

• Building: new buildings in the SRA, and in High and Very High zones in local areas, generally have to meet the state’s wildland-urban interface building standards. Since January 2026 they are in the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code (Title 24, Part 7); before that they were in Chapter 7A of the California Building Code.
• Defensible space: state rules on clearing vegetation around buildings apply in the SRA and in Very High zones in local areas.
• Selling: California’s Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement asks whether a property is in a High or Very High zone in a State Responsibility Area or a Very High zone in a Local Responsibility Area, and whether it is in a wildland area where the state is responsible for fire protection.
• Insurance: insurers use their own wildfire models. A zone on its own doesn’t decide whether a home can be insured; an insurer or broker can explain how they rate a property.

Recent wildfires

Outpost also maps CAL FIRE fire perimeters from this year and the previous 10 years. A recent fire doesn’t by itself change a property’s zone, because the zones describe long-term conditions. Burned slopes can produce debris flows during heavy rain after a fire; the landslide guide and the USGS post-fire debris-flow assessments cover that hazard.

How to check a location on Outpost

1. Open the map. Search an address, a place name or coordinates (latitude, longitude), or click any point in California.
2. The scorecard’s fire row shows the CAL FIRE zone at that point, for example “SRA Very High” or “LRA Moderate”. On federal land it shows the Wildfire Hazard Potential class instead.
3. The fire history row shows whether the point is inside a fire perimeter from this year or the previous 10 years, with the fire’s name, month and year.
4. If the point is close to a zone line, the scorecard says “Near a zone boundary — verify with the official map”.
5. To see the zones themselves, turn on the Fire Hazard Zones layer (with its FRA, SRA and LRA parts) and the Wildfire History layer in the sidebar.

Fire zone colors on the map:

• Very High
• High
• Moderate

What Outpost can’t tell you

• It isn’t the official determination. Use CAL FIRE’s fire hazard severity zone viewer, and your city or county for local areas.
• It can’t tell you whether your city or county has adopted the recommended 2025 map or added zones of its own.
• Zone lines are simplified for the web and can lag official updates.
• Fires missing from CAL FIRE’s perimeter records. CAL FIRE notes that some fires, such as small ones, aren’t in them.
• It says nothing about a particular building: its roof, vents, defensible space or insurability.

Common questions

How do I find out if my home is in a fire hazard severity zone?

CAL FIRE’s official fire hazard severity zone viewer lets you search by address. Outpost shows the same CAL FIRE zones next to other hazards on one free map. Near a zone line, or anywhere in a city or other local area, confirm with CAL FIRE’s viewer and your city or county.

What is the difference between fire hazard and fire risk?

Hazard describes the land: fuels, terrain and weather. Risk also counts what has been done to reduce it, such as defensible space and fire-resistant construction. The zones map hazard only.

Does a Very High zone mean I can’t get insurance?

Not by itself. Insurers use their own wildfire models and rating rules. Ask insurers or a broker how they rate a specific property.

Why can neighbors be in different zones?

Zone lines follow the modeled hazard, which changes with vegetation, slope and distance from wildland, so a line can fall between neighboring lots. The official viewer shows exactly where a line runs.

My area burned recently. Did the zone change?

Not because of the fire. The zones describe long-term conditions; the State Fire Marshal updates them in periodic re-mapping, not after each fire. Outpost shows recent fire perimeters as a separate layer.

Official sources

• CAL FIRE Office of the State Fire Marshal: Fire Hazard Severity Zones (with the official map viewer)
• USDA Forest Service: Wildfire Hazard Potential
• CAL FIRE: Ready for Wildfire (defensible space and home hardening)
• USGS: Post-fire debris-flow hazard assessments

Related guides

• Landslide susceptibility in California

  What the California Geological Survey’s deep-seated landslide susceptibility map shows, what it leaves out, and how to view it for any location.

• FEMA flood zones in California

  What FEMA flood zones A, AE, V, X and D mean, when flood insurance is usually required, and how to check a California location for free.

• Earthquake fault zones and liquefaction zones in California

  What Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zones and liquefaction zones are, what they require before building, and how to check a California location.