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San Jose study session reviews wildfire readiness; city to request adoption of updated fire hazard severity zones
Summary
City presenters reviewed San Jose wildfire risk, mutual‑aid capacity, water resources and community outreach; San Jose Fire Department will request council acceptance of an updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone map and introduction of an ordinance in early June.
San Jose officials on a city council study session reviewed the city’s wildfire preparedness, with presenters from the San Jose Fire Department, CAL FIRE, Santa Clara County Fire, the Santa Clara County Fire Safe Council and San Jose State University outlining risk, response resources and planning actions. Fire Chief Robert Sapien summarized the session as a statewide problem that requires local planning and coordination.
The presentation highlighted that 31,032 addresses in San Jose fall within areas defined as the wildland‑urban interface and that 46.2 square miles (29,581 acres) fall inside mapped fire hazard severity zones (FHSZ). Chief Sapien noted the breakdown in FHSZ addresses: "5,737 addresses in moderate zones, 6,027 addresses in high fire hazard severity zones and 4 addresses in very high fire hazard severity zones." The scale of regional incidents — including the Palisades and Eaton fires that mobilized state and federal mutual aid — framed the city’s push to improve prevention, detection and response.
The San Jose Fire Department told council members it will formally request acceptance of an updated FHSZ map in early June and will follow that request with the introduction of an ordinance for council consideration. The department described those steps as necessary to implement building standards, vegetation requirements and emergency‑planning measures in high‑risk neighborhoods.
Presenters emphasized partnerships and mutual aid. CAL FIRE unit chiefs and Santa Clara County Fire leaders described aviation resources, strike team deployments and the county’s role as an operational area coordinator for mutual aid. Deputy Chief Brian Class said strike teams consist of five engines with roughly 22 firefighters and can deploy for up to two weeks.
City staff also reviewed public outreach and code enforcement activity: the county weed abatement program handles vacant, unimproved parcels under San Jose Municipal Code 9.12; the city’s code enforcement division reported 518 new overgrown‑vegetation complaints this year and 536 resolved complaints, and over the past five years it resolved 2,857 overgrown‑vegetation cases through voluntary compliance, enforcement or abatement.
Mayor Mahan and council members emphasized prevention and vegetation management as high‑return investments and pressed staff about data and tools to better target enforcement and fuels work. Staff said parcel‑level ownership and parcel shapefiles are available and that the city is working on tile layers to overlay parcels, topography and FHSZ designations for future data‑driven targeting.
The study session ended with council members urging continued collaboration across city departments, county and state partners, and community groups to pilot technologies and expand outreach.
