La Habra Heights workshop urges home hardening, brush clearance and evacuation planning

La Habra Heights officials and regional wildfire experts on Monday urged residents to harden homes, clear fuel around properties and finalize evacuation plans as the city accelerates its 2025 brush-clearance program.

Dante Cornejo, wildfire operations supervisor for My Safe LA, told the audience that home hardening and defensible space are the most effective ways to reduce structure loss. "The current recommendation is a 1 eighth inch mesh screen on your vents," he said, adding that "some insurers are requiring a more stringent... 1 sixteenth inch" and that finer screening reduces the size of embers able to enter attics.

The presentation outlined three defensible-space zones: zone 0 (0–5 feet from a structure), zone 1 (5–30 feet) and zone 2 (30–100 feet). "Zone 0 is actually a law that was passed in 2021," Cornejo noted, and he described practical measures including boxed eaves, ember-resistant vents, dual-pane tempered windows, Class A roofing and clearing leaf litter from gutters.

Local fire officials also focused on evacuation planning. John Dominguez, who has mapped the community into five evacuation zones and is helping deploy the city's mapping app, urged residents to "download that app" and learn their zone so they can recognize when a map turns red and evacuate early rather than waiting for official orders. Chiefs added that narrow, one-way streets can be converted during an evacuation and that rehearsing routes is essential.

Mayor (speaker 1) and fire chiefs sought to address a parallel concern: insurers increasingly inspect properties and sometimes nonrenew policies. Resident Chris Landis described receiving a notice of nonrenewal despite being listed as compliant in the city brochure. City staff and the chiefs recommended documenting all home-hardening work and maintaining a routine checklist so residents can respond to insurer notices.

On operations, Battalion Chief Ryan Jorgensen said the city will "kick off" its 2025 brush-clearance program on May 1 with additional seasonal inspectors and interns and emphasized that the program will be more proactive this year. Deputy Chief Edward Martin announced a planned multi-agency brush drill at the end of the month (dates listed by staff: 27–29) to exercise evacuation routes and mutual-aid coordination; last year about 60 engines participated and officials expect more this year.

Residents urged practical, low-cost steps as well. Glenn Peterson, who recently retrofitted vents after an insurer inspection, described difficulties getting contractors to install 1/16-inch mesh and the mismatch between what some insurers require and the city inspector guidance. Longtime volunteer Bruce urged neighbors to join Firewatch and volunteer brush-clearance efforts: "They can't do their job unless we report the fire," he said, noting volunteer reporting and radio nets are a crucial local resource.

City staff signaled next procedural steps: an April council meeting will include a public hearing on brush-clearance program details, staff will distribute checklists and brochures, and officials will provide assistance for residents who need help completing clearance work. The workshop was recorded for the city website and officials encouraged residents to continue engagement through community cleanups and volunteer programs.

The city did not adopt any new ordinance or formal code change at the workshop; officials said staff would bring proposals and code amendments to the planning commission and council for further consideration.