Fire chief urges local review after state’s new hazard maps place much of Monterey Hills in "very high" zone

Fire Chief Greg Lloyd told the South Pasadena Public Safety Commission on April 14 that Cal Fire’s recently released local fire hazard severity maps classify much of the city’s western edge — including large portions of the Monterey Hills — as “very high” hazard, and he urged local review and public education.

“This is a hazard map. It’s not a risk map,” Lloyd said, explaining that the state’s maps show physical conditions that create likely fire behavior over several decades and do not account for local mitigation. He described the state’s methodology change: lands were first divided into wildland and non‑wildland; non‑wildland areas such as South Pasadena were assessed by ember‑cast potential and proximity to adjacent wildland fuels.

Lloyd said the Monterey Hills total about 660 acres, with roughly 22 acres of vegetation…