Cal Fire extends comment period for draft fire hazard severity zone map
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Residents of high fire areas across California are being granted additional time to give comments on the draft fire hazard severity zone map created by Cal Fire.
In response to a request for more time and clarity from groups including the League of California Cities and California State Association of Counties, Cal Fire has increased the comment period for an additional 60 days.
The deadline for public comment has now been extended from Friday, Feb. 3, to Tuesday, April 4, for a total of 110 days.
The new map will succeed one created in 2007.
It covers the State Responsibility Area, or SRA, overseen by Cal Fire. The agency describes the area as “unincorporated, rural areas, where wildfires tend to be frequent.”
The map ranks areas according to low, medium and high categories for fire risk.
Cal Fire’s new draft map shows that the areas in Lake County ranked as “very high” have increased by 31.5%.
As a result, of the 395,373 acres in Lake County in the SRA, 92.8% are in the very high category. Lake County ranks No. 5 statewide for the amount of acreage in that highest risk category.
Last week, Cal Fire held a hearing during the Board of Supervisors meeting in which community residents and board members raised issues with the new map.
Their concerns included how the map was created, how it is to be used and its potential negative impacts on Lake County’s property and homeowners, who already are facing challenges with climbing insurance rates and cancellations.
The Cal Fire analysis and algorithm used to create the map doesn’t take into account the work of residents to create defensible space, or the efforts of groups such as fire safe councils to promote fire hardening efforts.
In a statement on the time extension, the League of California Cities reported, “Based on the available data, it appears that there may be some discrepancies around local fire mitigation efforts, such as brush clearance, in the draft maps. Ignoring decades of meaningful data could result in costly inaccuracies and discourage collaboration between local governments and Cal Fire on this critical resource.”
HOW TO COMMENT
The Office of the State Fire Marshal will accept written comments on the map through Tuesday, April 4.
Information on the Fire Hazard Severity Zones is here:
https://osfm.fire.ca.gov/divisions/community-wildfire-preparedness-and-mitigation/wildfire-preparedness/fire-hazard-severity-zones/
To see how the map is proposed to change from 2007, visit this webpage:
https://calfire-forestry.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=fd937aba2b044c3484a642ae03c35677
For information presented at the Board of Supervisors hearing, visit this page:
https://countyoflake.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11574889&GUID=9685D0B4-8184-4E28-880A-C53110C3A311
Written comments may be submitted by U.S. mail to the following address:
Office of the State Fire Marshal
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Attn: Scott Witt, Deputy Chief
P.O. Box 944246
Sacramento, CA 94244-2460
Written comments can also be hand delivered or sent by courier to the contact person listed in this notice at the following address:
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Office of the State Fire Marshal
C/O: Scott Witt
California Natural Resources Building
715 P Street, 9th floor
Sacramento, CA 95818
Written comments may also be delivered via email at the following address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For questions email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 916-633-7655.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.