The Yorba Linda City Council on June 17, 2025, voted to adopt Ordinance No. 2025-11-13 to incorporate the 2025 California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps for the city, a change staff said will be submitted to the state Board of Forestry within 30 days.

City officials said the maps are meant to better identify wildfire risk and encourage home hardening and defensible space; residents urged the council to delay adoption and demanded clearer notice and an explanation of an apparent low-risk “island” in the Bryant Ranch area.

Council consideration followed a technical presentation from Nate Farnsworth, city community development director, and Division Chief Kevin Fetterman of the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA). Farnsworth told the council the state prepared the maps and the city was legally obligated to review and designate hazard areas. "This is a process that we are obligated under the state to take a look at the Cal Fire maps that were prepared by the state," Farnsworth said.

Fetterman said the maps reflect a scientific, statewide geospatial analysis run by Cal Fire using dozens of datasets. "These fire hazard severity zones were developed by CAL FIRE... The Orange County Fire Authority did not have any say or any kind of adjudication on the maps," Fetterman said, adding the maps are intended to "protect lives and property by identifying areas of high risk and encouraging education, and or requiring, different types of building construction."

Fetterman summarized the local change: the updated maps show a net decrease of about 566 acres in moderate and high severity (roughly 595 buildings) but a 53-acre increase in very-high-fire-hazard severity, affecting about 173 buildings in the city. He also noted residents can enroll in OCFA’s pre-fire home assessment program and that the state’s ready-set-go resources are available online.

Several residents urged the council to delay. Diane Kenny said she had not been notified of the public comment period and flagged what she called an anomalous “island” of low-risk pixels inside the Bryant Ranch area. "Before you vote on these maps, I request that you discuss with Cal Fire the methodology used by Cal Fire to identify the fire risk in this area," Kenny said. Diane King and resident Peter Meng also raised safety and vegetation concerns along interior slopes and near pre-1980 homes.

City Manager Mark Palone told the council staff had posted the maps and that the city had accepted public comment; he said the city will continue work on public outreach and described ongoing interagency drills and weed‑abatement work. "We take fire issues incredibly, you know, to heart here in Yorba Linda," Palone said.

During council discussion members reiterated frustration that state law provides no administrative appeal to Cal Fire for the maps; City Attorney Todd Lifton and staff said the law allows the city only to add areas (increase severity) if it can justify that change, but not to subtract or reduce areas that Cal Fire mapped as higher risk. Farnsworth added the city must act on the designation within a 120‑day statutory window and then submit the ordinance and map to the Board of Forestry within 30 days.

Council Member Peggy Wong moved adoption of Ordinance No. 2025‑11‑13. The motion passed; one councilmember recorded a no vote. The ordinance will be forwarded to the state as required and staff said public comments submitted before the council’s action are part of the public record.

The council and OCFA officials emphasized that while maps do not automatically change insurance rates, they do inform future building‑code requirements, defensible-space rules, and disclosures associated with property sales. OCFA urged homeowners within designated zones to use the state and OCFA resources to reduce structural vulnerability.

The council set no additional local revisions at the meeting; staff said they will continue public outreach and coordination with emergency‑response partners and that residents may use the posted comment process to submit new, project‑specific information that the city can consider.