What a Very High fire zone changes on your lot

The rule

• Fire hazard zones come in three levels: Moderate, High and Very High.
• The State Fire Marshal maps them under Gov. Code 51178. CAL FIRE's new maps for cities came out in 2025.
• The City's own fire map still shows the older zones. The lot report checks both, and a lot in either counts.

The numbers

What you can build

• Build ADUs and junior ADUs, unless the lot is also in a Hillside Area.
• Use SB 1211 on an apartment lot. The new ADUs follow the fire-zone building rules.
• Build new or rebuild to the wildfire building code (Title 24, Part 7, the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code).

What it doesn’t allow

• Build an ADU on a lot in both a Very High zone and a Hillside Area. LA's ADU ordinance bars it (LAMC 12.22 A.33). The state housing department told LA in November 2024 this breaks state law; LA hasn't confirmed a change.
• Use SB 9 in a Very High zone unless the City accepts fire-hardening measures. How LA applies this outside the burn areas isn't settled.
• Use SB 684 or SB 1123 in a High or Very High zone. There is no exception.
• Use SB 9 in the Palisades burn area, where the Mayor's Emergency Executive Order No. 9 suspends it.

The building rules in a Very High zone

• Class A roof. No wood shakes.
• Ignition-resistant siding, such as stucco, fiber-cement or masonry.
• Ember-resistant vents with metal mesh no larger than 1/8 inch.
• Dual-pane windows with at least one tempered pane.
• Noncombustible or listed decks.
• Zone 0, the state rule to keep anything that burns out of the first 5 ft around a house, is not in force yet.