The Hillside Federation pre-litigation letter demanded that the City of Los Angeles comply with the “State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations” with regard to proposed development projects located in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones (“VHFHSZ”). This advocacy effort was successful – in April the City Council unanimously denied the project.  

View Video: LAFD Captain breaks down why wind-driven fires are so hard to fight.

In 1^st Q 2025, CalFire released new Fire Hazard Severity Zone Maps for the Local Responsibility Area (LRA). The new LRA maps include the “very high, high and moderate” hazard severity zones. Now, both the “High” and “Very High” zones are areas in the LRA where local jurisdictions must comply with the strictest fire-safety Chapter 7A building code and other regulations. The history of Fire Hazard Severity Zone mapping, and where to find your Local Responsibility Area (LRA) map is below.

Los Angeles 2025 firestorms rank among the deadliest (29 fatalities) and most destructive (16,200 structures) wildfires in California history, per the 2025 update to CalFire’s Wildfire History Database. The Eaton (Altadena) and Palisades catastrophic wildfires ignited during hurricane force Santa Ana winds. Insured losses are expected to exceed $20 billion.

Experts weigh in on the complexity of wind-driven wildfires – policies need to include fire behavior modeling and structure resiliency standards. The 2025 Los Angeles fires demonstrated how changing weather patterns, hurricane winds, ember cast, and structure-to-structure fires drove the firestorms from the wildlands deep into urbanized areas. Read the LA Times science-based interviews with wildfire and building resiliency experts, Stephen Pyne and Jack Cohen, and with David Sapsis, CALFire’s fire modeling expert.

Three Coalition Leaders William Holmes, retired CalFire Northern Region Chief, SAFRR President and Planning Conservation League Executive Director met with CalFire Deputy Director Chief Frank Bigelow. SAFRR requested this meeting to discuss CalFire’s intentions with SB 610–legislation stopped by state-wide Coalitions in 2024–that would have jettisoned CalFire’s Fire Hazard Severity Zone Maps (relied upon for decades) and eliminated local jurisdictions’ legal authority to increase hazard levels in their own communities.