Rubaiya Karim
On June 17, 2025, Santa Barbara’s City Council officially adopted the revision of the Fire Hazard Severity Zones as per the recommendation of the California State Fire Marshall. This marks a major step in the city’s efforts to help reduce wildfire risks. This ordinance was introduced and approved for adoption during a regular meeting held on the day.
Highlights
- On Tuesday, the city council of Santa Barbara approved a motion to revise the High Fire Hazard Areas within the county.
- The new demarcations were made under the recommendation of the state fire Marshall.
- Any construction made in these risk zones will have to comply with Chapter 7A of the California Building Code.
Additional Budget Approved for a Coastal Wildland Fire Suppression Assessment District
The updated zoning ordinance was proposed on June 17, 2025, and adopted the same day. The City Council also approved an additional $100,000 in the 2026 Fiscal budget to develop the Coastal Wildland Fire Suppression Assessment District. The Santa Barbara Fire Department will use this additional funding to hire a consultant and kick off the administrative process for establishing the district.
The goal of the Coastal Wildland Fire Suppression Assessment District is to help mitigate wildfires through enhanced fire suppression strategies tailored to the requirements of the coastal and coastal interior High Fire Hazard Areas.
The Fire Department also stated that the updated fire hazard risk maps are not only aligned to the state guidance but also custom-made to match local geographical and climatic conditions. These changes will reduce wildfire risk as they mandate stronger building codes, defensible space maintenance, and appropriate land-use strategy.
The updated fire hazard zoning and funding of the Coastal Wildland Fire Suppression Assessment District indicate Santa Barbara’s commitment to improving wildfire risk management. These moves follow other initiatives undertaken within the budget approved earlier in June. Other highlights of this budget include funding for affordable housing and community safety programmes.
For more details about the new fire hazard zoning and wildfire safety planning, residents of Santa Barbara can refer to the proposed maps above. These maps, along with additional information about the council agenda, are also available for review on Santa Barbara City’s official website. The Santa Barbara Fire Department also posts regular wildfire updates and warnings on its official website.
I lost my homeowners insurance and I attribute the loss to the government not allowing the insurance a rate hike. Now they will not write a policy and I am self insured. Thank-you. Cal Fire is junk
What is the consequence for fire insurance rates by this decision? I though I heard early on that this does not affect that?
That link to the City’s page isn’t very helpful. Can someone share a link directly to where those maps and associated info are located? Or make the images in the article “enlargeable?” Thanks so much.
A little bit of help, don’t mean to sound condescending if you’ve already done this:
hold “Ctrl” key and plus or minus sign to increase or decrease font/screen size.
Right click picture of map and select “Open image in new tab” and then increase font size.
I agree that gov’t web sites are the most difficult, useless websites I have ever encountered!
My insurance (AAA has done me right!) has barely gone up. I was happy to see zones extended around Stevens Park and just north of Foothill; makes my risk feel a little more acknowledge and thus makes me feel a little safer.
Try here too, map is scrollable; has a box to enter your address, under “Find your Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) and local public contacts”:
https://osfm.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/community-wildfire-preparedness-and-mitigation/fire-hazard-severity-zones
Where can I find county maps?