Per California Government Code 51178 the State Fire Marshal shall identify areas in the state as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. As part of this requirement, CAL FIRE has made recommendations for Local Responsibility Areas (“LRA”), which include incorporated cities, urban regions, agricultural lands, and portions of the desert where the local government is responsible for wildfire protection. 

The Town of Truckee adopted the newly recommended Fire Hazard Severity Zones under Ordinance 2025-04 (PDF) on May 13, 2025. The adopted zones were unchanged from the February 2025 recommendation provided by the State of California, and can be viewed below. The interactive map also shows the zone changes from the previous zone map that was adopted in 2008.

What was the Town of Truckee required to do after receiving these recommendations? 

• Per California Government Code 51179, the Town must designate, by ordinance, moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones within 120 days. While there is some flexibility to increase hazard severity zones, they are largely based on the recommendations made by CAL FIRE.
• Per California Government Code 51178.5, the Town must make the updated information available for public review and comment within 30 days. 

What options did the Town have for changing the zone recommendations made by CAL FIRE?

• It could, at its discretion, included areas within the jurisdiction of the local agency, not identified as very high fire hazard severity zones by the State Fire Marshal, as very high fire hazard severity zones following a finding supported by substantial evidence.
• It could, at its discretion, include areas within its jurisdiction, not identified as moderate and high fire hazard severity zones by the State Fire Marshal, as moderate and high fire hazard severity zones, respectively. 
• It could not decrease the level of fire hazard severity zone as identified by the State Fire Marshal for any area within the town.  

Note that the map below shows the comparison between the newly adopted CAL FIRE recommended Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ) as of May 2025 and the previous zones from 2008. The slider on the map application below can be used to toggle to help visualize the changes.