Fire Safe Regulations - FAQs: Local Jurisdiction FSR Implementation Requirements (March 20, 2026, Update)

Firefighters can fight fires and save structures only
after people are safely evacuated.

The Fire Safe Regulations (FSR) specify the MINIMUM requirements that local jurisdictions need to follow, with standards designed to protect public safety through concurrent fire apparatus ingress and civilian evacuation.

Core Concepts: The 2023 FSR required updates to local ordinances that include the standards, or require stricter standards, and added the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones (VHFHSZ) to the Local Responsibility Areas (LRA). In 2025, CalFire released updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps, which identify the VHFHSZ where the FSR apply in the LRA, as well as updates to State Responsibility Areas (SRA).
(Go to Link > Enter your address on CalFire Map to learn your Zone)

The FSR are very clear for all new development: Both public and private roads, existing and new roads, and roads within and providing access from outside the parcel must meet the FSR standards as access roads are necessary to meet the FSR and its clear intention to provide safe ingress and concurrent evacuation.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) badge with a map of California, red, yellow, and dark blue colors, and a sunburst graphic.

Enforcement: CalFire has the authority to inspect and enforce the FSR in the State Responsibility Area (SRA) (§ 1270.06(d)).  For the VHFHS Zones in the Local Responsibility Area (LRA), no independent oversight mechanism was specified; thus, local jurisdictions do the inspections and enforcement.

The requirement for local jurisdictions to have their fire safety ordinances certified by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (BOF) ended in Nov 2020.

In 2022, the CA Attorney General’s (AG) office issued guidance for local jurisdictions/lead agencies when considering the impacts of approving new development in wildfire-prone areas. AG Guidelines: “Best Practices for Analyzing and Mitigating Wildfire Impacts of Development Projects under the CA Environmental Quality Act.”

Compliance: A local jurisdiction’s land use approvals or ordinances do not comply with the FSR if they incorrectly allow “Exemptions” (a complete exclusion from the rule) or “Exceptions to Standards” (a variation of the rule). As defined in more detail in the FAQs.

CalFire, who has responsibility to fight fires in the SRA, often lacks the additional budget resources to provide proper oversight and enforcement.  Local officials often want to approve new development for economic reasons and cite the advantages of new building standards, despite the proposed development being on subpar roads.

Local jurisdictions sometimes confuse laws that apply to existing developments, with the standards for new developments. The Board of Forestry 2019 Fire Safety Survey (CCR Title 14 § 1267.00-1267.03) applies to subpar existing public roads that ONLY access prior (already existing – not new) developments. The 2019 Fire Safety Survey only applies to existing communities that are on a dead-end road with no second egress.  The local jurisdiction is to identify a second emergency egress route, which may be of lesser standards than the primary access. 

Regardless, local jurisdictions should be working towards road improvements to provide for safe emergency access/egress pursuant to CCC § 1267.00-1267.03.

Recent wind-driven wildfires have proven that new construction design standards are not enough; there is a need for better evacuation planning and on-going practice by the community using different evacuation routes.

Compliance: A local jurisdiction’s land use approvals or ordinances do not comply with the FSR if they incorrectly allow “Exemptions” (a complete exclusion from the rule) or “Exceptions to Standards” (a variation of the rule). As defined in more detail in the FAQs.

CalFire, who has responsibility to fight fires in the SRA, often lacks the additional budget resources to provide proper oversight and enforcement.  Local officials often want to approve new development for economic reasons and cite the advantages of new building standards, despite the proposed development being on subpar roads.

Recent wind-driven wildfires have proven that new construction design standards are not enough; there is a need for better evacuation planning and on-going practice by the community using different evacuation routes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Are local jurisdictions required to implement public and private access road standards for new development that meet or exceed the FSR standards?

A. Yes. The State confirmed that the FSRs are the minimum standards to be followed statewide and required that local ordinances, road regulations, and building construction meet these FSR minimum standards for the State Responsibility Area (SRA) and VHFHSZ of the LRA (which are simply called “VHFHSZ” in the FSR), with no new exemptions.  The FSR states local ordinances can always develop stricter standards. 

The 2023 State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations have clear requirements that local Exemptions cannot be applied unless they are Exemptions enumerated in Subchapter 2 below:  

Subchapter 2: State FSR § 1270.05. Local Regulations
(a) Subchapter 2 shall serve as the minimum Wildfire protection standards applied in SRA and VHFHSZ. However, Subchapter 2 does not supersede local regulations which equal or exceed the standards of this Subchapter.

(b) A local regulation equals or exceeds a minimum standard of this Subchapter only if, at a minimum, the local regulation also fully complies with the corresponding minimum standard in this Subchapter.

(c) A Local Jurisdiction shall not apply exemptions to Subchapter 2 that are not enumerated in Subchapter 2. Exceptions requested and approved in conformance with § 1270.07 (Exceptions to Standards) may be granted on a case-by-case basis.

(d) Notwithstanding a local regulation that equals or exceeds the State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations, building construction shall comply with the State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations.

Q2: What are the FSR-specified Exemptions?

A. The two FSR “Exemptions” refer to a complete exclusion from the rule and have strict limitations. These requirements were written into the FSRs in Subchapter 2 (§ 1270.03(b)).

1. The FSR define a “Road as Exempt” if it is used solely for agriculture, mining or management of timberland or harvesting of forest products (§ 1270.04(d)). A road used for agriculture, mining or timberland would not be exempt if there are residences or visitor serving facilities using the same road.

2. A limited Exemption also exists for projects with parcel maps that meet certain conditions that were in the pipeline prior to 1991, only when “…the perimeters and access to the buildings were imposed by the parcel map or a final tentative map approved prior to January 1, 1991.”

The FSR specify in § 1270.03(b):  “Subchapter 2 does not apply where an application for a Building permit is filed after January 1, 1991 for Building construction on a parcel that was formed from a parcel map or tentative map (if the final map for the tentative map is approved within the time prescribed by the local ordinance) approved prior to January 1, 1991, to the extent that conditions relating to the perimeters and access to the Buildings were imposed by the parcel map or a final tentative map approved prior to January 1, 1991.”

Q3: How many evacuation routes are required by the FSR, and do they all need to meet the standards?

A. The FSRs require a minimum of two evacuation routes, and both must meet the FSR standards.

Some jurisdictions have confused this second egress road requirement with a different state law that applies to existing (not new) subdivisions that only have one access road, which allows a second ingress/egress route for existing subdivisions that can be of lesser standards than the primary existing access road (California Code of Regulations § 1267.00-1267.03).

Q4. Can you provide a summary of the key standards, and some examples of “Exceptions to Standards,” where standards may be met through alternative means?

A. The FSR standards are summarized on the SAFRR Website.‍ ‍Exceptions to Standards must provide specific alternative measures with “ material facts” supporting how they will provide the “Same Practical Effect” as the replaced FSR standard.

Evacuation is chaotic: Evacuations may occur during the night, smoke can limit visibility, vehicles often have trailers for horses or farm animals and people panic. The State FSR are in place to save lives; thus, all Exceptions to Standards must provide fire apparatus ingress and safe concurrent civilian evacuation as required in the FSR.

Examples of Road Exceptions that provide the Same Practical Effect as the FSR standards in achieving safe fire equipment access, concurrent civilian evacuation and unobstructed traffic circulation during a wildfire emergency, consistent with the road standards in Article 2 include, but are not limited to:

Road width: The FSR standards require two 10-ft wide traffic lanes to enable concurrent access and egress the requirements listed in Article 2 (§§ 1273.00 – 1273.09).  There may be limited situations where an Exception to Standards can be reasonably applied that is consistent with the intent of the FSR.  The Board of Forestry provided an example: If a 20 ft wide road has a single slightly-narrower pinch-point (e.g. 18 ft) for a limited 50-100 ft distance, then an Exception to Standards could be made for residential (but not commercial or industrial) development.

Dead end roads that exceed FSR length limitations (Standard: minimum 1 mile to 800 feet‍ ‍in length, depending on the smallest parcel size served) can be addressed by finishing a connection to another road or creating a new second egress route, with both roads meeting the FSR standards. To be approved for new development, the road would need to be improved to meet the minimum FSR standards of 20 feet wide, properly surfaced, with grade limitations and other standards.

Bridge weight limits of 40,000 pounds require expensive bridge infrastructure expenditures on private or public roads. In some cases, bridge weight limits may be 75,000 pounds when in a location requiring the use of larger fire equipment. There is a clear nexus to the new development paying for such upgrades, just as developers are often required to underground utilities on their roads.

Grade: The FSR limit grade to 16%, potentially up to 20% if approved, with engineered features and appropriate modifications to achieve the Same Practical Effect for fire equipment access on steeper grades. In 2020, a Fire Chief’s working group convened by the Board of Forestry, provided examples:   

  • For grades greater 16%, increased surface treatments are required to prevent slippage and scraping.  

  • For grades 18-20%, additional surface requirements must be met, as well as minimum 100 ft transition zones of no more than 10% grade immediately before and after the steeper grade, with no sustained grade of 20% for more than 300 ft.  

  • No Exception to Standards can be made for roads greater than a 20% grade.

Examples that DO NOT meet the FSR standards include, and are not limited to:

Vegetative fuels management may make a narrow dead- end road a little more accessible to fire apparatus; yet it does not meet the requirements of unimpeded, simultaneous firefighter access and egress by evacuees.

A water tank on the property, may be useful for firefighters to save structures, yet it doesn’t ease evacuation gridlock.

A county’s improved evacuation warning program does not improve subpar roads where first responders are not able to access, and evacuating civilians are forced out of their cars to run for their lives.

Placing signage on the bridge stating that it is unsafe to cross, does not provide the “Same Practical Effect” when a fire tanker collapses the bridge and blocks access by firefighters and egress by civilians.

Q5. Do public access roads required to reach a parcel for proposed development need to meet the FSR and provide for safe evacuations? 

A.YES. The FSR apply “…to the perimeters and access to all residential, commercial and industrial Building construction…”, and to “Roads and Driveways, whether public or private.”

There is no Exemption for existing roads, whether public (offsite) or private (onsite) providing access to new development for residential, commercial or industrial projects. If public access roads cannot be improved to meet the FSR, for example, the steep grades do not meet the FSR standards, then new development cannot be built.

Some Counties have incorrectly taken the position that the FSR do not apply to existing offsite public roads. This is patently wrong, the FSR clearly specify they apply to all roads, new and existing, public and private, with no Exemption provided for existing public roads.  Such a position of exempting existing public roads also violates the FSR requirement that only the limited Exemptions written in the FSR can be made.

This erroneous position would exempt the majority of new residential, commercial, or industrial developments from needing to comply with the FSR, leaving residents often stranded when trying to evacuate on substandard roads, with the potential for significant loss of life. 

Requiring safe evacuation only on the private roads that lead to the parcel does not save residents from a conflagration; it contradicts the basic language of the FSR and the requirement to provide fire-fighting equipment access and safe concurrent evacuation. 

Q6. Napa and SonomaCounty designate wineries as “agricultural uses,” yet wineries and tasting rooms are open to the public, with hundreds of non-agriculture-related vehicle trips per day.  Is this a loophole in the FSR?

A. Providing access to the public or to residences, although not legally a loophole under the “agriculture- use only” road Exemption, it is being erroneously used by some jurisdictions to circumvent the FSR.

The FSR only exempt roads if they are “…used solely for Agriculture, mining or management of and harvesting of timber (§ 1270.04(d).”

Thus, under the FSR, if other uses or residences are along the road, it is not exempt. Residences and/or visitor-serving traffic at wineries and tasting rooms on a non-conforming road significantly increase fire and evacuation risks and negate any agricultural road exemption, as the road is not solely used for agriculture. 

Q7.Who is liable when people die and property is lost because local jurisdictions keep approving new development in dangerous fire-prone areas?

A.  California faces a lifetime liability issue as climate-intensified wildfires continue to grow. The court system is overturning many unsafe project approvals; however, it is unknown whether public officials in local jurisdictions and fire officials will be held responsible for approving unsafe new development that results in dire evacuations and devastating community burnover.

Q8.  What does the State Attorney General say about the Fire Safe Regulations?

A.  In letters to various county planning commissions, the Attorney General’s office has decisively confirmed the regulations apply to New Development on Existing and New Roads, both Public and Private, and has stated that length limits on dead-end roads cannot be eliminated with an “Exception” (Oct 25, 2019, letter to Monterey County Planning Commission). 

Q9. Is it true that the only revisions to the FSR (Public Resource Code Statute § 4290) are those specified in Senate Bill 901?

A. NO. The FSR, with its road standards already existed at the time, and was revised to address SB 901 requirements. In 2018, SB 901 clarified administrative and contracting practices, expanded the applicability of the FSR to VHFHSZ in the LRA, and required updated regulations for fuel breaks, greenbelts, and ridgelines.

Statute § 4290 specifies that the BOF adopt and implement such regulations.When the BOF adopted the State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations, in addition to setting certain minimum standards for access roads, structures, subdivisions, and developments in the SRA and LRA VHFHSZ, the revised regulations provide for basic emergency access and perimeter wildfire protection, as well as standards for greenbelts near communities, fuel breaks, and measures to protect undeveloped ridgelines to reduce fire risks and improve protection.

Also, certain administrative changes were, in part, intended to improve clarity regarding inspection and enforcement processes and requirements for local ordinances to ensure local jurisdiction compliance with the Minimum Fire Safe Regulations.