Background

In September 2021, after years of catastrophic fires having impacted California, Governor Newsom signed two new State laws: Senate Bill 63 (“SB 63”) and Assembly Bill 9 (“AB 9”). Both laws went into effect on January 1, 2022. 

SB 63 requires the State Fire Marshal to identify moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones and transmit maps of those zones to cities with jurisdiction over the zones. (See Government Code Section 51178 here). Cities must designate a very high fire hazard severity zone through the adoption of a local map within 120 days of receiving recommendations from the State Fire Marshal. (See Government Code Section 51179 here). 

SB 63 also requires the State Fire Marshal and the Department of Housing and Community Development to extend building codes for very high fire hazard severity zones to high fire hazard severity zones.  AB 9 complements SB 63 by establishing a program within Cal Fire to support local wildfire prevention measures. 

The purpose of the City’s very high fire hazard severity zone map is to support fire prevention efforts through the implementation of defensible space programs and new building code standards developed to minimize the loss of life, resources and property.  The Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone map for Martinez, which can be viewed here, was created on January 7, 2009, but has not yet been adopted by the City as required by the State Fire Marshal and the provisions of SB 63. To see precise boundaries of streets and structures within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, please visit the online CalFire Fire Hazard Severity Zone Viewer: https://egis.fire.ca.gov/FHSZ/ 

Cal Fire completed a process to update Statewide maps in 2021 to identify Very High Fire Hazard Zones located in areas of State responsibility. Cal Fire has since begun working with local jurisdictions to support the implementation of the State’s mandate for local maps to be developed.  New maps are anticipated for release later this year. 

Read our Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about Very High Fire Hazard Zones.