Local law

Where Zone 0 is already law: every California jurisdiction with rules in force

Fact-checked August 19, 2026·Sources at the end of this article

Six jurisdictions, six different rules

The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection approved the statewide Zone 0 regulation on August 19, 2026. Approval is not the finish line: the package still needs Office of Administrative Law review, including a five-day public comment period, and publication by the Secretary of State, so the rule is not in effect and no statewide compliance clock is running. Staff have said they will submit an emergency rulemaking package that could make the rules effective as early as September 2026. That schedule has slipped before: Governor Newsom's Executive Order N-18-25 directed the Board to finish rulemaking by December 31, 2025, and the Board did not.

So "Zone 0 is the law" is still only true in specific places, and it is worth being precise about which ones. As of August 19, 2026, six California jurisdictions have their own ember-resistant-zone rules in force. Each treats roughly the same territory (the first five feet out from a structure) but they differ on who is covered, what is prohibited, and when. If you are new to the topic, our full guide to California Zone 0 fencing rules covers the statewide picture; this article is the local roster.

Ventura County Fire Protection District: the earliest, and the most complete (2019 / 2025)

The Ventura County Fire Protection District (which covers all of Ventura County except the cities of Ventura, Oxnard, and Fillmore, which run their own fire departments) has required Zone 0 for new buildings since April 1, 2019, the earliest local Zone 0 requirement we have verified in California. Effective March 1, 2025, the district's Wildland-Urban Interface Code went further, from the code text: "Fuels, including Combustible Materials and vegetation, are prohibited in Zone 0 for all New Buildings, additions to Existing Buildings, installation of new landscape, and refurbishment of existing landscape areas."

New-construction Zone 0 in the district requires noncombustible fencing and gates and bans combustible mulch, wood chips and firewood. Existing buildings with older landscaping are not exempt from everything: the code bars combustible landscape mulch, firewood, and vegetation under decks, prohibits artificial grass, and bars planting new trees in the zone. The district's Standard 515 describes Zone 0 as hardscape-only: "Rock, sand, decomposed granite (DG), dirt, pavers, concrete, etc." Full county picture, including the Board of Supervisors' October 2025 resolution pushing back on the state draft: Zone 0 in Ventura County.

Laguna Beach: existing structures since 2021

The City of Laguna Beach passed Ordinance 1664 on October 5, 2021, adopting its Defensible Space Guideline for Existing Structures in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone; compliance became effective November 5, 2021. The guideline defines the zones directly: "Zone 0: From zero to five feet. This is the ember resistant zone." About 85% of the city sits in the Very High zone, and the Laguna Beach Fire Department runs its own inspection program and issues Letters of Compliance. It is the only adopted local Zone-0-style requirement we found in Orange County; details are in Zone 0 in Orange County.

Moraga-Orinda Fire District: the all-structures ordinance (March 17, 2023)

The Moraga-Orinda Fire District, in Contra Costa County, adopted Ordinances 23-03 and 23-04, effective March 17, 2023 (among the earliest Zone 0 rules in California, and the first we know of that applies to every structure in its territory). The district defines Zone 0 as the area from zero to five feet out from any structure, attached deck, or outbuilding.

The date matters more than the details. Moraga-Orinda put an ember-resistant zone into enforceable local law almost two years before the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires and more than three years before the statewide vote in August 2026. It is the proof that a California fire agency does not have to wait for Sacramento.

Auburn: a rule for new construction only (July 10, 2024)

Auburn, in Placer County, wrote its Zone 0 fence rule into requirements for new construction. Auburn Municipal Code §10087(D) has been in force since July 10, 2024, and its fencing text is short enough to quote in full:

The portions of combustible gates or fences which run perpendicular to and/or touch the structure shall be constructed with noncombustible material to a minimum of five feet (5 ft.) from the structure.

Auburn Municipal Code §10087(D)

Two things stand out. First, it applies to new construction, so existing homes and their existing fences are untouched. Second, it targets exactly the geometry fire researchers worry about, the perpendicular run that carries flame to the wall, with the same five-foot noncombustible transition the statewide regulation requires (approved August 19, 2026, not yet in effect).

Berkeley's EMBER ordinance: the broadest prohibition list (January 1, 2026)

Berkeley's ordinance, known as EMBER, took effect January 1, 2026. It is not citywide: it applies in two designated hillside areas, the Grizzly Peak and Panoramic hillside mitigation zones. Within those zones, it prohibits the following within five feet of a structure:

weeds, grass, plants (including climbing vines), debris, wood mulch products, combustible fencing and gates, plastic trash and recycle cans, trellis, pergolas, shade coverings, combustible planters, privacy walls, boats, RVs, and other material that could be ignited by embers or direct flame.

Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 19.49 (EMBER ordinance)

"Combustible fencing and gates" sits in the middle of that list, which makes Berkeley's the strictest fence language of the six: an outright prohibition within the zone, not just a five-foot transition where the fence meets the house.

San Diego: the biggest Zone 0 jurisdiction in force

San Diego's ordinance, SDMC §512.0604, covers all structures in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ, the state's fire hazard mapping classification) within city limits, an area reported to cover roughly two-thirds of San Diego city residents. That makes it by far the largest Zone 0 jurisdiction with rules in force.

The rollout is phased. New structures have been covered since February 28, 2026. The phase for existing structures begins February 28, 2027, and the city asks owners to "attempt to achieve full compliance", including fence and gate replacement, by February 28, 2029.

Two details are easy to miss. First, San Diego is more permissive on materials than the statewide regulation: it allows existing vinyl fencing within five feet in certain parallel configurations, and fire-retardant treated wood (FRTW, wood chemically treated to slow ignition) for new parallel fences. Neither allowance survives the state definition of noncombustible (materials that pass ASTM E136, a laboratory furnace test of whether the material itself can burn), so work that satisfies San Diego today may not satisfy the state once the adopted rule takes effect. Second, the ordinance stops at the city line: Escondido, San Marcos, Fallbrook, El Cajon, Chula Vista, Carlsbad, Poway, and Ramona are separate jurisdictions without such an ordinance. We cover the ordinance section by section in our San Diego Zone 0 breakdown.

Los Angeles is moving the other way

Not every local government is racing ahead of the state. In January 2026, the Los Angeles City Council directed LAFD to draft deliberately more lenient Zone 0 rules, aligned with "the most lenient options that allow healthy vegetation and do not require the removal of tree limbs within five feet of a house." No ordinance has been adopted, so LA belongs on no one's in-force list.

Read that council direction carefully, though. The contested provisions concern vegetation and tree limbs. The no-combustible-fence provision has broad support among fire professionals. In other words, even the jurisdiction pushing hardest for leniency is not pushing back on fences.

The unverified reports

A secondary trade source has reported local Zone 0 ordinances in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Marin counties, and in the Kensington Fire Protection District. We have not been able to confirm any of these from primary sources, so they do not appear in the roster above. If you live in one of those areas, let the report prompt a call to your local fire agency. On its own it is not a fact.

Why the patchwork is permanent

The Board's August 19, 2026 approval does not make the local ordinances above disappear, and the variation between jurisdictions likely does not either. Government Code §51182(f) allows local agencies to adopt alternative practices for defensible space, and an owner who complies with locally adopted alternatives "shall not be deemed to have violated this section."

There is a second source of variation: the state released updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps for local responsibility areas in four phases between February 10 and March 24, 2025, the first update since 2011. Local agencies must adopt those zones by ordinance and may add area at their discretion, so a city's covered territory can be broader than the state map shows. The statewide rule will set a floor once it is effective. Where you live still sets the details.

What this means for you

Start with geography, not materials.

• In Moraga-Orinda, Auburn, Berkeley's hillside zones, or San Diego city limits: a Zone 0 rule applies to you right now. Read your jurisdiction's actual text (linked in the sources below) before planning fence work, and note which trigger applies: Auburn's rule reaches new construction only, while San Diego's existing-structure phase begins February 28, 2027.
• In one of the unverified counties: call your local fire agency and ask directly whether an ember-resistant-zone ordinance is in force at your address. Our guide to whether Zone 0 applies to your home walks through how to check your hazard zone.
• Everywhere else in a hazard zone: no local ordinance binds you today, and the statewide rule is adopted but not yet in effect, so it imposes no duty on you right now either. But every in-force ordinance and the adopted state regulation point the same direction: a noncombustible first five feet where a fence meets the house. If you are building new anyway, building to that standard means not redoing the work later. Our rundown of noncombustible fence materials covers what qualifies.

And in every case: the Board voted on August 19, 2026, and the picture can change quickly from here. The live status tracker is the fastest way to see what is actually in force where you live.