Defensible space is crucial for your home’s wildfire safety. It’s the buffer zone you create between your property and the surrounding wildland area. This space is key to slowing or stopping wildfire spread and protecting your home from embers, flames, or heat.

Defensible Space Ordinance

Parcel owners are responsible for creating and maintaining the required 100-foot defensible space around combustible Structures on their property but not beyond the property line.

Suppose a Structure's required 100 feet of defensible space crosses the property line. In that case, the adjacent property owner is responsible for removing hazardous vegetation that poses a fire hazard within 100 feet of that Structure.

A greater clearance distance, up to 300 feet, may be required if the clearing is necessary to significantly reduce the risk of transmission of flame or heat sufficient to ignite the Structure and no other feasible mitigation measure is possible to reduce the risk of ignition or spread of wildfire to the Structure.

The state legislature requires 100 feet of defensible space from combustible structures.

The El Dorado County Hazardous Vegetation and Defensible Space Ordinance 5186 adopts state law for all unincorporated areas.

The El Dorado Hills Fire Department enforces the Ordinance with inspections and education.

Defensible Space Zones

The intensity of fuel management may vary within the 100-foot perimeter of the structure, with more intense fuel reductions being utilized between 5 and 30 feet around the structure. An ember-resistant zone is required within 5 feet of the structure, based on regulations promulgated by the Board of Forestry to consider eliminating materials in the ember-resistant zone that would likely be ignited by embers. (Public Resource Code 4291)

There are three defensible space zones: Zone 0 within 5 feet, Zone 1 from 5 to 30 feet, and Zone 2 from 30 to 100 feet.

Standard Home Zones

There are 3,500 standard high-density homes in Serrano. The 60-by-140-foot parcel plot below has a 20-foot-deep front yard and a 40-foot-deep backyard. The sideyard is five feet from the property line.

This property has all three defensible space zones. Zone 0 (Red) is five feet from all sides of the house. Zone 1 (Green) covers the front yard and 30 feet into the back yard. And Zone 2 (Yellow) is 10 feet from the rear property line.

Custom Home Zones

There are 1,000 custom homes on large lots in Serrano. The 150-by-200-foot parcel plot below has a front yard 60 feet deep and a backyard 70 feet deep. Sideyards are 25 and 35 from the property line.

This property has all three defensible space zones. Zone 0 (Red) is five feet from all sides of the house. Zone 1 (Green) covers 30 feet into the front and back yards and the side yards to the property line. Zone 2 (Yellow) extends from Zone 1 to the street and rear property line.

Zone 0

Zone 0 is a five-foot Ember-Resistant Zone around all sides of the house and decks but not beyond the property line. The Fire Department anticipates that combustible ground cover, including bark, shrubs under windows, and most plants, will not be allowed in this Zone.

While not yet legally required, Zone 0 is vital for wildfire defense and preventing embers from igniting combustible material that can spread the fire to your home.

Zone 1

Zone 1, the Lean, Clean, and Green Zone, extends from the ember-resistant zone to 30 feet from structures and decks but not beyond your property line.

Remove all tree branches within 10 feet of any chimney or stovepipe outlet.

Keep the area clear of dead and dying trees, branches, shrubs, grass, plants, leaves, and weeds.

Before modifying landscaping, you should request a Fire Department assessment because specific Board of Forestry and Cal Fire guidelines for this zone may not apply to Serrano.

Zone 2

Zone 2, the Reduced Fuel Zone, extends 30 to 100 feet from buildings, structures, and decks but not beyond your property line.

Keep the area clear of dead and dying trees, branches, shrubs, grass, plants, leaves, and weeds.

Before modifying landscaping, you should request a Fire Department assessment because specific Board of Forestry and Cal Fire guidelines for this zone may not apply to Serrano.

Defensible Space Inspections

County Emphasis Areas

Each year, El Dorado County identifies County Emphasis Areas and conducts defensible space inspections in partnership with the El Dorado Hills Fire Department.

The goal of these inspections is to provide homeowners with valuable information on how to meet their defensible space requirement and make their homes more resilient to wildfire.

Residents in the County Emphasis Areas will receive a Notice of Defensible Space Inspection, inspection timeframes, and an invitation to a local informational workshop.

Currently, Serrano has not been identified as a County Emphasis Area.

Assessment Request

Serrano homeowners seeking a home hardening and defensible space assessment before an official inspection should contact the El Dorado Hills Fire Department.

The Fire Department volunteered to assess four Council member properties in August 2024.

The Fire Department inspectors' approach educated us on how to make our homes safer from embers and house-to-house fires.

We appreciated their approach and common sense recommendations.

Real Estate Transactions

When you sell property located in a high or very high Fire Hazard Severity Zone, you'll need documentation of a Defensible Space Inspection that complies with the County's Vegetation and Defensible Space Ordinance.

Most custom homes and Cost Centers 5 and 15 are in a high Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Request a Cal Fire Real Estate Defensible Space Inspection here.