Truckee staff outline new state fire-hazard maps, adoption deadline and local mitigation programs

Town of Truckee staff described Thursday night how updated California Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) maps will affect local regulations, timelines and mitigation programs, and answered residents' questions about insurance, code changes and financial assistance.

The town received CAL FIRE'recommended maps on Feb. 10 and made them available for public review on Feb. 25; staff said state rules require local agencies to (1) make the maps available for public comment within 30 days of transmittal, and (2) adopt local ordinances designating moderate, high and very high FHSZs within 120 days. That 120-day deadline puts Truckee's ordinance-adoption deadline at June 10, 2025. The town must then submit adopted maps and the ordinance to the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection within 30 days of adoption.

The town presentation began with background from CAL FIRE and the Office of the State Fire Marshal on the history and modeling behind the updated zones. "Fire hazard severity zone maps are built to describe relative wildland and urban interface fire hazard potential over the long term," said Jamie, a member of the CAL FIRE modeling team, describing the three classes used statewide: moderate, high and very high. Jamie said model inputs included long-term burn probability (1991'020), vegetation, slope and the worst 5% of fire-weather observations to represent extreme conditions.

Why it matters: The state maps are hazard assessments, not parcel-level risk evaluations, and they trigger local regulatory steps. Town staff emphasized that hazard maps do not account for mitigations such as recent fuel treatments or home hardening; those measures affect risk but not the hazard designation. "Hazard is based on the physical conditions that create the likelihood and expected fire behavior over a 50-year period," a CAL FIRE presenter said.

Local impacts and existing rules Town staff said many of the state-required measures are already in use across the Truckee fire district. Chapter 7A of the building code (the Wildland-Urban Interface building standards) is already adopted in the town's municipal code, staff said, so some building-hardening requirements are in force regardless of pixel-level color changes on the state map. Town staff also said the Truckee Fire Protection District has required real-estate hazard disclosure across the district since 2019, predating AB 38.

Staff explained the practical differences among zone classes: moderate zones generally require only map adoption at the local level; high zones can trigger additional building-code measures and hazard disclosures; and very high zones add defensible-space requirements (generally 100 feet around structures), safety-element planning steps, subdivision-review considerations and additional fire-code measures.

Public questions, insurance and resources Residents asked whether zone changes will force parcel-level work or affect insurance. Town staff and Truckee Fire representatives said the California Department of Insurance has stated the FHSZ maps are unlikely to directly change insurance because insurers assess risk, not hazard, and consider parcel-level mitigations.

Eric, a representative of Truckee Fire, described ongoing local programs and new proposals: a planned dead-tree fund (a cost-share program for removal of hazardous dead trees to roll out in summer), an existing home-hardening rebate that currently reimburses about 50% of eligible low-cost retrofits up to $500 (the district is considering raising that cap), and extensive defensible-space inspections that have covered roughly 13,000 structures in the district over the past three years. Eric said Truckee Fire estimates about 15,000 structures in the district and that one in six inspected homes had a dead tree.

Other operational constraints discussed included the Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating and emergency resources. A resident, Bob Ferwerda, asked why Truckee's ISO rating is a 4 while Incline Village and South Lake Tahoe have a 1. Truckee Fire staff said ISO ratings depend heavily on resource deployment and water availability: Truckee's district covers roughly 24 square miles with four fire stations, and achieving the station density used by some jurisdictions would require funding beyond current revenues.

Codes, development and process clarity Staff clarified that local development code changes can affect future construction (new permits allow retrofits and code upgrades), but retrofitting the entire existing built environment is a large, costly undertaking requiring incentives or programs. Staff said the town is reviewing development-code provisions that might unintentionally permit hazards (one resident noted a recent change that allowed wood-shake roofs in certain circumstances) and is considering how Measure T and Measure E funds might be used to support larger-parcel mitigation incentives.

Next steps and public participation Town staff said outreach is continuing and public hearings will be scheduled on the proposed ordinance before adoption. The town webpage for the effort is townoftruckee.gov/fhszupdate and staff invited written comments to FHSZupdate@townoftruckee.gov. Once the town adopts an ordinance and submits it to the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, the state will confirm receipt, completing the formal local-adoption requirements.

Discussion vs. decisions The meeting included extended discussion, public questions and staff commitments to pursue programs (dead-tree fund, increased rebates, code review) but no formal vote or ordinance adoption during the session. The staff timeline and ordinance-adoption deadline are statutory requirements described by staff rather than actions taken at the meeting.

Background and legal references Staff recited historical incidents that motivated statewide mapping and regulation, including the 1980 Panorama Fire (San Bernardino Mountains) and the 1991 Oakland Hills/Tunnel Fire. The presentation also referenced state legislative drivers and guidance: Public Resources Code 4201, the Bates Bill (Assembly Bill 337, as cited in the presentation), Government Code section 51179, and more recent directives cited as Assembly Bill 642 and Senate Bill 63 (Feb. 2022 transmittal in the presentation). Truckee staff noted federal and state planning tools used locally, including Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) and CEQA updates that incorporate wildfire analysis.

Who spoke Speakers at the meeting included town staff presenting the maps and timeline, Jamie from the CAL FIRE modeling team, representatives from Truckee Fire (including Eric), and residents such as Bob Ferwerda who asked about code changes and ISO ratings.

For more information: townoftruckee.gov/fhszupdate; contact FHSZupdate@townoftruckee.gov.