Taft council hears Cal Fire hazard‑zone maps; officials, residents press for clarity on insurance and building rules

Kern County Fire officials on Tuesday told the Taft City Council that updated wildfire hazard severity zone maps created by the state will require the city to adopt high and moderate zones under California law, and that the changes will affect building standards and real‑estate disclosures for properties in those zones.

The maps “are required by Government Code 51178 and 51179,” Sean Riley, deputy fire marshal with the Kern County Fire Department, said during a presentation. Riley said the new map process incorporated fire history through 2020, vegetation, predicted flame length, ember transport, slope and prevailing wind data and that the state’s Cal Fire unit produced the maps and sends them to local jurisdictions for adoption.

The update — tied to Senate Bill 63 and a 2021 change in state rules — would require the city to adopt high and moderate designations for its local responsibility area (LRA). In high zones, the council would also be required by state law to ensure sellers provide an AB 38 hazard disclosure when they sell property; new construction in high zones would have to meet Chapter 7A / California residential code standards (the county and city currently follow the California Building Code and residential code CRC R337), officials said. Moderate zones require adoption of the maps only; they do not carry the disclosure or new‑construction standards triggered by high zones.

Why it matters: the council and members of the public pressed county fire officials on whether the designations would affect property insurance and how property owners could challenge or appeal a mapping designation. Several residents and council members asked what homeowners, landlords and businesses could do immediately to reduce risk and potential insurance impacts.

“The state actually creates the maps,” said Kerry Wright of the Kern County Fire Department, explaining local agencies do not unilaterally reclassify zones. Wright and Riley told the council the maps are set at the state level and subject to a required five‑year reevaluation cycle; local jurisdictions can submit comments and questions to Cal Fire, but Kern County Fire does not have authority to change the designations.

Officials described the regulatory consequences as focused largely on future construction. Existing buildings in newly designated high or moderate zones are treated as preexisting nonconforming structures and are not required to be retrofitted to the higher standards, Riley said. Accessory buildings larger than 120 square feet and within 50 feet of a primary structure in a high zone would be subject to the higher building standards, he added.

On insurance, county firefighters and staff said the state’s hazard maps are not the same as insurer risk maps. “These maps are hazard maps. They are not the same as the risk maps that insurance companies use,” Riley said, summarizing feedback the department received from Cal Fire and the California Department of Insurance. He said hazard maps do not account for local mitigations — water supply, fire stations, defensible space and home hardening — that insurers typically consider.

Council members and residents remained concerned about how the new maps could affect premiums or availability of coverage. One resident who described an industrial yard outside of town told the council he believed the parcel posed little fire risk; others reported that some neighbors elsewhere had lost policies or faced higher renewal rates after designations changed. Council members asked staff to invite a Cal Fire representative and an insurance industry speaker to future meetings to explain the mapping process and how insurers evaluate risk.

Defensible space and enforcement: officials clarified which agency enforces defensible‑space requirements. Kern County Fire enforces defensible space on state responsibility area (SRA) lands and performs station‑level inspections there; for properties in the local responsibility area, enforcement generally requires a complaint to city code or building staff, county staff said. The county does not proactively inspect every LRA property.

Timing and local actions: county staff said the county expects to adopt its ordinance following the state schedule (county adoption mentioned around early July in the presentation). Once the city adopts a local ordinance incorporating the state map, AB 38 disclosure obligations and any building standard triggers for high zones would become effective. City staff said they can request the state map layers from their GIS contractor and overlay them with local parcel data to examine boundary issues in more detail.

Council direction: the council asked the city manager to contact Cal Fire about a follow‑up presentation and asked staff to try to arrange a presentation from an insurance representative. Council members also asked the planning and building staff to overlay the state map on the city’s GIS layers and return with more precise edge delineations so residents and staff can see which parcels fall into high or moderate zones.

Context and next steps: speakers repeatedly emphasized that the mapping primarily targets new construction standards and disclosure requirements rather than immediate mandatory retrofits of existing homes. County fire officials and city staff said property owners concerned about their parcel’s designation should contact Cal Fire through the state’s FAQ and comment channels and may pursue map questions with the state. The county will revisit maps on the five‑year schedule the state requires.