Wildfire mitigation, evacuation plans and homeowners’ insurance have been burning issues in Orinda long before the urban firestorm that laid waste to portions of Greater Los Angeles earlier this year.
But now there is yet another piece added to the wildfire protection puzzle: Governor Gavin Newsom’s “Zone Zero” fire mandate. The governor’s proactive measure, which was ignited by the Southern California infernos, is targeted at reducing the risk of wildfires in California’s most fire-prone areas, which includes Orinda.
The policy requires residents to create ember-resistant zones within five feet of structures located in the highest fire severity zones as deemed by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Zone Zero is designed to reduce the risk of homes ignited by flying embers, which are a common cause of urban wildfire-related home losses. Newsom executed an executive order on Feb. 6 to activate the policy, which was already forged by the state assembly in 2020.
What does this mean for Orindans?
It means homeowners need to create an ember-resistant zone within the first five feet of their homes by removing combustible materials and implementing fire-resistant landscaping to prevent embers from igniting homes.
This is part of a broader strategy to harden community resilience and wildfire mitigation, increase investments in wildfire prevention and improve collaboration with local, federal and state partners to sharpen wildfire response.
Who will enforce the policy in Orinda?
Cal Fire will enforce the measure in collaboration with local fire districts and departments, such as Orinda’s Moraga-Orinda Fire District (MOFD).
How exactly that will work and a start-date for when MOFD will begin investigating homes for compliance has yet to be decided – but it likely won’t begin until 2026 since the rule-making process isn’t expected to be finalized until Dec. 31, according to the fire district.
Once the local policy has been placed into action, an Orinda homeowner that is not Zone Zero compliant may face fines and penalties imposed by MOFD. In some cases, MOFD may also impose corrective actions to bring properties into compliance, which could result in additional expense to homeowners.
At her State of the City address earlier this month, Mayor Latika Malkani highlighted a number of initiatives Orinda is taking to address fire mitigation and the homeowner insurance crisis, including mention of the Zero Zone measure.
Malkani acknowledged that its implementation is a work-in-progress, and the MOFD would be the local enforcer.
“What exactly that looks like, we are not sure,” Malkani said.
Communities, such as Orinda, must comply with Zone Zero because they have received a “severely high hazard” designation by Cal Fire. The state agency’s Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) maps were updated and released on Feb. 24. The maps are determined by a science-based and field-tested model that assigns a hazard score based on factors that influence fire likelihood and fire behavior, according to a Cal Fire website.
There are three levels of hazard in the State Responsibility Areas (SRAs): moderate, high and very high. The new Orinda maps may be viewed at MOFD.org. The MOFD has opened a public comment period that extends to April 6, with recommendations being introduced at a district meeting on April 16.
FHSZ maps evaluate “hazard” not “risk,” a point reiterated by Malkani in her address. In the latest maps release, Orinda experienced a big jump in fire hazard severity survey. The city has 5,424 acres considered “very high hazard,” which is more than double the 2,424 acres designated as such in 2011, a comparable map.
Whether the FHSZ maps will be incorporated into home insurance providers’ risk assessments remains to be seen.
“Insurance risk models incorporate many additional factors that change more frequently than those that Cal Fire includes in its hazard mapping,” according to a California Association of Counties fact sheet, which may suggest that the maps will not necessarily have a direct impact on insurance coverage or rates.
Impact or not, that is yet another vexing question facing Orindans as they run to their mailboxes each renewal cycle to find out if they are among the unfortunate who are being sentenced to the swelling ranks of the uninsured.
Contributing Writer Mark Veverka can be contacted at markveverka@gmail.com.
