Cal Fire map updates expand Ojai's local-responsibility fire zones, officials warn of new home-hardening requirements

Ventura County Fire Marshal Joe Morelli told the Ojai City Council that Cal Fire's newly released Local Responsibility Area maps substantially expand the areas around Ojai where state and local fire-safety rules will apply.

The proposed maps, released March 10 by the State Fire Marshal, add categories for moderate and high fire hazard in local responsibility areas, a change from past maps that only defined "very high" hazard. "For Ojai, the expansion of the area is substantial," Morelli said. He told the council Cal Fire's slider tool shows Ojai's mapped area increasing roughly 464 percent compared with the prior map; countywide the expansion is about 8 percent.

Why it matters: The new classifications expand where annual defensible-space inspections, home-hardening building-code requirements (Chapter 7A) and AB 38 real-estate inspection disclosures are applied. Morelli said the state's mapping is intended to inform land-use planning and where the various home-hardening and disclosure requirements attach; he explained the California…