Santa Barbara updates local fire-hazard zones; council directs further assessment for fire-suppression district

The Santa Barbara City Council on June 17 adopted an ordinance updating the city's high fire hazard severity zones, incorporating California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) mapping with local adjustments, and directed staff to pursue further analysis of the wildland fire suppression assessment district.

Fire Chief Chris Mails and Battalion Chief (Fire Marshal) Ryan DeJulio explained Cal Fire—s revised local responsibility area (LRA) maps — the first statewide update that touches Santa Barbara in 14 years — and how the city used its Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) to refine and, in a few cases, expand the state—s draft boundaries. "These are hazard maps, not risk maps," Chief Mails told council, emphasizing that the state mapping file does not reflect parcel lines or streets and that the local…