Emily Kilgore, public information officer and fire prevention specialist with CAL FIRE’s Tuolumne‑Calaveras unit, presented a plain‑language guide to home hardening and defensible space at the Firewise Calaveras Festival.

Kilgore told the audience that Public Resource Code 4291 governs year‑round fuel‑reduction obligations around private property and said the practical defensible‑space depth is 100 feet or to a property line where that is smaller. On the new Zone 0 guidance she said: "Zone 0 is if you were to touch the side of your house and stretch out your arms, that's roughly 5 feet...Everything within that 5 foot area...gets removed away from your home." She added that the Board of Forestry has drafted legal language for Zone 0 that is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.

Kilgore listed specific measures homeowners can take now: replace combustible mulch and wood chips in the 0–5‑foot perimeter with gravel or pavers; keep trailers, RVs and stored wood at least five feet from structures; consider replacing the first five feet of a deck with noncombustible materials; and use compliant roofing materials such as metal, tile or composite rather than shingles where possible. On vents she recommended metal mesh between 1/16‑ and 1/8‑inch openings and urged sealed eaves and soffits to reduce ember entry.

On vegetation, Kilgore described zone spacing rules: Zone 1 extends from 5 to 30 feet and requires removal of dead or dying plants and increased spacing; Zone 2 extends from 30 to 100 feet and allows denser plantings only if maintained and kept low (natural grass maintained at no more than 4 inches). For pruning she advised a minimum six‑foot clearance under tree canopies and a three‑times‑height rule for understory plants (for example, a 3‑foot bush would require the first limb to be at least 9 feet above it).

Kilgore encouraged residents to take printed Wildfire Home Retrofit Guides and low‑cost retrofit lists from her CAL FIRE table, and she offered voluntary, educational site visits to review properties ("it's strictly for education" and "it doesn't go into the system"). She also demonstrated the CAL FIRE Linktree QR code for consolidated resources and reminded residents that burn permits are required beginning May 1 each year.

Kilgore emphasized that home hardening should be phased in with routine improvements rather than require immediate full replacement of building features: "as you're doing improvements to your home... do it to this compliance for the safety of your home," she said.

The CAL FIRE guidance at the festival provided concrete steps homeowners can adopt immediately and pointed to forthcoming Board of Forestry language that may formalize Zone 0 requirements.