California · Defensible space
Zone 0: the first five feet
Zone 0 is the first five feet around a structure — the ember-resistant zone in California’s defensible-space rules. It is measured from the exterior wall out five feet or to the property line, whichever comes first, and attached decks, stairs, and pergolas count as part of the structure. It is where wind-blown embers most often land and where homes most often ignite, so the draft standards regulate what can exist there more strictly than anywhere else on the parcel. Zones 1 and 2 — from 5 to 30 feet and 30 to 100 feet — carry the older fuel-reduction rules.
The Board of Forestry approved its final draft standards on August 19, 2026 — the first of their kind in the country. Not yet in effect: a state legal review and a short public-comment period remain, then new construction complies first and existing homes phase in over roughly three to five years. Last checked August 24, 2026.
The three zones, in plan
Zones 1 and 2 carry the fuel-reduction rules California has had for years. Zone 0 is the new part: the five feet where embers land, held to a stricter standard than the rest of the parcel. Existing trees may remain in all three zones — including Zone 0 — maintained to the tree standard.
Inside the five feet: what stays, what goes
Can stay
- Low non-woody plants — to 18″
- Succulents, bulbs, flowers; plantings of a square foot or less, spaced 1.5× the height of the tallest plant, outside the buffers
- Lawn and ground cover — under 3″
- Maintained and mowed; free of dead material
- Existing trees, maintained
- Limbed up 6′ or ⅓ of height; branches 5′ above the roof, 10′ from chimneys, never under eaves. No new trees
- Potted plants — to 18″
- Unaffixed, non-combustible pots of 5 gallons or less, spaced like in-ground plantings
Must go
- Bark mulch and wood chips
- Combustible mulches anywhere in the zone; inorganic mulch — gravel, stone, decomposed granite — replaces them
- Firewood and stored combustibles
- Moved beyond five feet — and nothing stored or growing beneath decks, balconies, and stairs
- Dead or dying vegetation
- Including leaf litter on roofs and in gutters — the immediate-effect items
- New trees, new combustible fences and gates
- Existing fences can be repaired with like materials; a 5′ non-combustible span is required where a fence meets the structure
- Combustible sheds and outbuildings
- An outbuilding stays in the zone only if built entirely of non-combustible materials
The buffers inside the zone
The part most summaries skip: even where planting is permitted in Zone 0, the rule keeps vegetation away from the structure itself — at least a foot from the wall or to the edge of the eaves, whichever is greater; two feet clear of windows, doors, and vents; five feet clear of attached decks.
What it means for a planting plan
Zone 0 becomes a hardscape-and-succulent problem with real numbers: inorganic mulch; non-woody planting under 18 inches, in square-foot groupings spaced 1.5× their height, held off the wall; lawn mowed under 3 inches; pots of five gallons or less. The design moves outward — Zones 1 and 2 are where structure, screening, and canopy now live, and fire-safe native palettes do their work. On a Lekua sheet, the three perimeters are drawn around every structure, the parcel’s hazard severity zone is stated, and plan check flags fire-risk species on a planting plan with native substitutions. Compliance itself is your local fire authority’s call — the drawings give everyone the same picture.
Common questions
What is Zone 0?
Zone 0 is the first five feet around a structure — the ember-resistant zone in California’s defensible-space rules. It is measured from the exterior wall out five feet or to the property line, whichever comes first, and attached decks, stairs, and pergolas count as part of the structure. It is where wind-blown embers most often land and where homes most often ignite, so the draft standards regulate what can exist there more strictly than anywhere else on the parcel. Zones 1 and 2 — from 5 to 30 feet and 30 to 100 feet — carry the older fuel-reduction rules.
Does the Zone 0 rule apply to my property?
It applies to homes in State Responsibility Areas and in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones within local responsibility areas — roughly two million California homes. The way to know is to check your parcel against the 2024–25 CAL FIRE hazard severity maps; a Lekua site analysis shows the parcel’s zone, free. Local fire agencies may also approve alternative practices with substantially similar effect — and some cities carry their own ember-zone ordinances that apply regardless.
When do I have to comply?
The Board of Forestry approved the final draft on August 19, 2026; the standards take effect after a state legal review and a short public-comment period. New construction complies in full on the effective date. For existing homes it is a ladder: clearing roofs and gutters and the basic tree rules apply immediately; removing combustible materials, firewood, dead vegetation, and ladder fuels comes within three years; and the vegetation-free buffers, fence and gate changes, and outbuilding requirements follow within three to five years on a timeline set locally. The board has said the initial focus is education and outreach rather than penalties.
Do all plants within five feet have to go?
No — the final draft deliberately stepped back from a total planting ban, and it puts numbers on what can stay. Outside the required buffers: lawn and ground cover mowed under 3 inches; well-maintained non-woody plants up to 18 inches tall, in plantings of a square foot or less, spaced 1.5 times the height of the tallest plant; and plants to 18 inches in unaffixed non-combustible pots of five gallons or less. What must go: bark mulch and wood chips, firewood and stored combustibles, dead or dying vegetation, anything stored or growing under decks, and any new trees or new combustible fences and gates inside the zone.
Can existing trees stay in Zone 0?
Yes — existing trees can remain, held to a maintenance standard: no dead or dying branches, ladder fuels limbed up the lower six feet or a third of the tree’s height (whichever is less), live branches at least five feet above the roof, ten feet from chimneys, and never under the eaves. New trees cannot be planted inside the zone.
Does Lekua certify Zone 0 compliance?
No. Lekua draws the Zone 0, 1, and 2 perimeters around structures on the base plan, shows the parcel’s fire hazard severity zone, and flags fire-risk species on a planting plan with California native substitutions. Compliance itself is determined by your local fire authority — the drawings give you and them the same picture to work from.
Sources: Board of Forestry — Defensible Space Zones 0, 1 & 2 · AB 3074 (2020), SB 504 (2024), AB 1455 (2025), Executive Order N-18-25 · CAL FIRE — Fire Hazard Severity Zones · Proposed 14 CCR §§1298 (LRA) and 1299 (SRA), Board final draft. This page describes the rule as approved in final draft on August 19, 2026; details can change in final review. It is not legal advice.
Is your parcel in a hazard zone?
Free to check — the analysis shows the severity zone and draws all three perimeters.