Free tool
Is your home in a Zone 0 area? Check your address
Enter a California street address. Your browser sends it straight to an OpenStreetMap geocoder to get coordinates, then queries CAL FIRE's official Fire Hazard Severity Zone map service, the same data behind the state's own viewer. We never see, log, or store the address.
How to read your result
| Official designation | Under the adopted state Zone 0 rule |
|---|---|
| State Responsibility Area (SRA), any hazard class | Covered, once the rule takes effect (Public Resources Code §4291) |
| Local Responsibility Area (LRA), Very High | Covered, once the rule takes effect (Gov. Code §51182) |
| LRA, High or Moderate | Not covered by the state rule, though local rules may apply |
| No mapped zone | Not covered by the state rule; local agencies can still designate area |
Details on the two-statute split: Does Zone 0 apply to your home? Whatever the map says, the insurance credit for noncombustible fencing applies statewide to insurers that price wildfire risk.
The map answers half the question. Here is the other half.
Everything above is about the statewide rule, which was adopted on August 19, 2026 and is not in effect. Two of the four rows in that table end with some version of "though local rules may apply," and for a growing number of addresses that clause is the part that actually binds today. At least thirty-five California jurisdictions already have their own Zone 0 rules in force, several of them stricter than the state's, and a few of them covering entire unincorporated counties.
So if your result came back "not covered," do not stop there. Two questions settle the local layer, and both have answers a public employee can give you over the phone:
- What does my county fire agency's model ordinance say about Zone 0 and fences? Local rules in California are mostly not written city by city. They are model text drafted once by a county fire agency and then adopted by district after district, which is why one Riverside County fence rule now sits word for word in the county code and five of its cities, and why one San Diego County sentence has been in force there since 2023.
- Has my own city or fire district adopted the current code cycle, and if my fire protection is a district, has my city council ratified its building standards? That second half matters more than it sounds: a fire district's fence rule does not reach a city until that city's council votes to ratify it, so two houses a mile apart can be under different law.
How local Zone 0 rules actually spread explains why those are the right two questions, with the ordinance numbers and the dates.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the data come from?
Geocoding: OpenStreetMap (Nominatim, with Photon as a backup). Hazard designation: CAL FIRE's published Fire Hazard Severity Zone feature service (the "FHSZ for real estate inspections" layer, which combines SRA zones and the 2025 LRA classifications). Responsibility area: CAL FIRE's State Responsibility Area layer, which returns SRA, LRA or FRA for the point directly rather than us inferring it. All are queried live from your browser.
My result says "no mapped zone" but I got a Zone 0 mailer. Who's right?
Possibly both. The state rule reaches only SRA land and LRA Very High zones, and many mailers are sent far beyond that footprint. But local agencies can designate additional area, so check with your city or fire district too. The myths article covers what mailers get wrong.
Does a covered result mean I have to do something today?
Statewide, no: the Board approved the regulation on August 19, 2026, but it is not in effect yet, and no compliance clock starts until an effective date exists. Once it does take effect, fences are a phased item for existing homes. Locally, at least thirty-five jurisdictions already have requirements in force, including: the Ventura County Fire Protection District, Laguna Beach, the Moraga-Orinda Fire District, Auburn, Montecito, Berkeley's hillside zones, and the City of San Diego. Check the local list.