CAL FIRE hazard maps place parts of Taft in high and moderate fire-severity zones; council hears questions on insurance and building rules

Kern County Fire Department and CAL FIRE representatives told the Taft City Council on a June 2025 agenda item that state-produced fire‑hazard‑severity maps now classify parts of the city as high and moderate wildfire hazard zones and that the city must adopt the maps for its Local Responsibility Area (LRA) to comply with state law.

The maps are required by state law and were developed by CAL FIRE using fire history through 2020, local vegetation, terrain and weather data, Deputy Fire Marshal Sean Riley of the Kern County Fire Department said. “They’re going to use fire history… vegetation… predicted flame lengths [and] blowing embers,” Riley said.

Why this matters: the designation affects new construction standards, mandatory real‑estate disclosures for sales in high zones (Assembly Bill 38) and what the city must adopt by ordinance. Residents at the meeting raised concerns that the designation could limit insurability or raise premiums; county fire staff and the presenters said hazard‑zone maps are different from the risk models insurers use and that, in their conversations with the state and the insurance commission, the hazard maps alone are not the insurers’ risk maps.

Riley and other presenters said the state map update incorporates fires through 2020 and that the state issues maps that local jurisdictions adopt for the LRA. “When the maps were originally created… the new maps incorporate fire history all the way through 2020,” Riley said. The maps were developed under government code provisions cited at the presentation.

What the maps require, according to the presenters: for areas designated high (within the LRA), the city will need to adopt the maps and ensure that new construction meets Chapter 7A and related wildland‑urban‑interface building standards; sellers of property in high zones must provide an AB 38 hazard disclosure inspection when selling; moderate zones require map adoption only and do not trigger building standards or disclosures. Existing buildings are treated as preexisting nonconforming and are not retroactively required to meet the new standards, the presenters said.

Council members and residents pressed staff on two practical concerns: (1) whether property owners can get the maps changed and how soon; and (2) whether insurers will use the maps to cancel or raise rates. County fire staff said CAL FIRE creates the maps and that a formal reevaluation occurs at least every five years under the current statute; local fire officials do not have unilateral authority to change the state map. The presenters advised residents that the state maintains a public process (and contact links/FAQ) and that appeals or inquiries can be submitted to the state fire marshal.

On insurance, Kern County Fire staff said hazard maps and insurance risk models are different: hazard maps show potential hazard, while insurers analyze risk with additional factors such as water supply, fire station proximity and home hardening. “These maps are not going to be utilized for any type of insurance rate hikes… they use completely different risk assessment maps,” a Kern County Fire representative said, while acknowledging private insurers make their own underwriting decisions.

Council and city staff also asked for practical next steps. Planning Director Mark Staples said the city already enforces the California Building Code and residential code (CRC) and that new construction in high zones will be built to the WUI standards included in the code the city enforces; he said the city’s building code update for 2025 will be processed later in the year. City staff and council asked the city manager to request a CAL FIRE briefing to answer remaining questions and to consider inviting an insurance‑industry representative to describe underwriting considerations.

Council members and residents emphasized defensible‑space and property‑level mitigation as immediate, low‑cost actions. Kern County Fire and city staff urged residents to reduce vegetation near structures, maintain defensible space and consult city/building staff for mitigation options. “The vegetation around their structures… is probably the biggest cause for structure fires,” a Kern County Fire official said.

The council did not take formal action on the maps during the meeting; staff said adoption steps and timelines would follow and that the county planned a July adoption date. City staff said state guidance indicates a local adoption window (presenters cited a roughly 160‑day timeline tied to the state process) and advised property owners to review the state FAQ and contact the city’s building and planning department with site‑specific questions.

Ending: Council members requested the city manager pursue a direct briefing from CAL FIRE and explore inviting an insurance‑industry expert for a future meeting. Staff said they would provide map layers and a closer overlay for city review and that code updates scheduled for December 2025 would take effect in 2026.