California has approved the nation’s first statewide Zone 0 wildfire standard, creating a common safety baseline around properties as insurers increasingly recognize wildfire mitigation in pricing and risk assessments.
The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection voted on August 19 to approve the regulations, which apply to the first five feet around structures in State Responsibility Areas and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones within Local Responsibility Areas.
Under the Zone 0 rules, combustible materials including firewood, wood mulch, wood chips and accumulated debris generally have to be removed, while certain maintained plants and existing trees can remain under specified conditions.
A vegetation-free safety area must extend at least one foot from the structure or to the edge of its eaves, whichever is greater. Vegetation must also be kept two feet from windows, doors and vents and five feet from attached decks and similar features.
The regulations are expected to undergo expedited review by the California Office of Administrative Law and could take effect in September. New construction would have to comply once the rules become effective, while existing properties would be phased in over five years.
Under the Safer from Wildfires program, insurers subject to California’s wildfire mitigation rules must provide individual credits or discounts for specified measures, including a five-foot ember-resistant zone around a structure.
The two standards are not interchangeable, however. The Board of Forestry regulation establishes a fire-safety requirement, while insurers use their own filed rating and verification procedures. Zone 0 compliance therefore does not automatically guarantee a particular discount or an offer of coverage.
That distinction could become more important because the regulation allows local flexibility. In Local Responsibility Areas, fire agencies can authorize alternative practices based on factors including topography, lot size, fire risk, building design and response resources. Those alternatives must provide “substantially similar practical effects” to the state rule, be found equally effective and receive approval from the relevant local governing body.
APCIA said variations in implementation could affect the value of the statewide standard.
“The new regulation is an important starting point, but it should be viewed as a minimum standard, not the highest level of wildfire protection. As implementation moves forward, local governments will face a choice. They can maintain consistent, science-based protections that maximize ember resistance around homes, or they can pursue flexibility that weakens the effectiveness of the statewide standard. If local alternatives prioritize flexibility over maintaining a clear and consistent Zone 0 of ember resistance, communities may ultimately be placed at greater risk.”
California’s insurance rules already set parameters around verification. Under the Department of Insurance’s wildfire mitigation regulations, carriers can establish verification procedures through their filed underwriting rules. If an insurer requires an inspection, it must provide a free inspection option and accept an inspection by CAL FIRE or a local fire department as evidence of completed mitigation.
Policyholders who complete mitigation can also request a revised wildfire risk score or classification. Insurers must provide an updated score within 30 days and consider completed mitigation when a policyholder appeals an existing classification. Brokers that receive an appeal must forward it to the insurer within five calendar days.
The issue has become more significant as California tries to reduce reliance on its insurer of last resort. The California FAIR Plan reported 696,562 dwelling and commercial policies in force as of June 2026, up 157% from September 2022. Written premium reached $2.04 billion, a 212% increase over the same period.
New-business volumes have begun to ease, however, with average monthly new business during the first nine months of fiscal 2026 down 25% from the previous fiscal year. Insurance Business has also reported that Farmers committed to new business in California wildfire-distressed areas.
California now permits reviewed forward-looking wildfire catastrophe models to be used in ratemaking under its Sustainable Insurance Strategy. The wildfire modeling framework is intended to account for mitigation at both the individual-property and community level rather than rely solely on historical losses.
Mitigation can also have a material effect on insurance costs, although the amount varies by carrier and property. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in a 2025 letter on wildfire mitigation that discounts available through the broader Safer from Wildfires program can range from 4% to more than 40% of total premium depending on wildfire risk, property characteristics and the combination of measures completed.
That range does not represent a Zone 0 discount on its own, but it shows why standardized and verifiable mitigation is becoming more important as California moves toward more granular wildfire pricing and underwriting.
