Ventura County brush clearance requirements, explained

The April 20 notice and the June 1 deadline

Ventura County Fire’s Fire Hazard Reduction Program, known as FHRP, is the main tool the county uses to keep brush away from homes. Owners of properties in the program get a Notice to Abate Fire Hazard in the mail every April 20, and clearance is due June 1 (Ventura County Fire FHRP).

The county’s answers to common questions say long extensions aren’t granted. If you have started the work and need a few more days, you can ask the fire station listed on your notice, and the station may work with you if the work is moving (FHRP Frequently Asked Questions). Inspections normally start the last week of May and run into June.

The program also asks owners to keep the property clear all year, not just by June 1. The county says you may get a second notice later in the year if regrowth needs to be cut. That is why a fall or winter look at the property is worth it: what was cleared in May may be knee high again by the next spring.

Most owners pass easily. A local news report said that of more than 18,000 owners notified in 2022, only eight failed to comply (KCLU).

Who gets the notice

Ventura County Fire covers all of Ventura County except the cities of Ventura, Oxnard and Fillmore (Ventura County Fire). That takes in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Camarillo, Moorpark, Santa Paula, Ojai, Port Hueneme and the unincorporated areas like Oak View, Piru and the Santa Rosa Valley.

Inside that area, the county’s FAQ lists the reasons a parcel is in the program. The main one is natural vegetation within 100 feet of a structure. It includes parcels in the state responsibility area, local very high fire hazard zones, and the county’s wildland-urban interface, which it describes as anywhere within 500 feet of brush, grass or grain covered land (FHRP FAQ).

An empty lot can still get a notice. Each owner clears the part of the 100 feet that falls on their own land, even when the house belongs to a neighbor. The county’s example: if a neighbor’s house sits 60 feet from the property line, the house’s owner clears those 60 feet and you clear the next 40 on your side.

The City of Ventura runs its own program, with the same June 1 deadline for High and Very High hazard zones (City of Ventura FHRP). In Santa Barbara County, the county fire department and the city and district fire agencies each set their own rules (Santa Barbara County Fire Standard 6).

Clearing in March or April, before the grass dries out and every notice comes due at once, is easier and safer than clearing in June.

What the 100 feet means, zone by zone

The county’s Defensible Space Maintenance Guide breaks the 100 feet into three zones, each measured from the house, deck or patio, or to the property line if that comes first (VCFD Guideline 423).

Zone 0: the first 5 feet

This is the ember resistant zone. For new homes and additions, it is noncombustible: the guide lists combustible mulch, wood chips, bark and shredded rubber mulch among the materials not allowed. On existing homes, the guide asks for well kept, watered plants only. Vines and climbing plants on the house count as ladder fuel and should come off.

Zone 1: 5 to 30 feet

The guide says plants should be limited and separated into single plants, not groups, so fire can’t travel from one to the next toward the house.

Zone 2: 30 to 100 feet

This is the reduced fuel zone. The goal is lower flames, fewer embers and less heat reaching the house, so plants are spaced further apart. The guide also says firewood belongs out here, not against the house.

In every zone, dead and dying plants, grass and weeds come out.

Trees, palms, roofs and roads

Trees are the part most owners miss. The county’s guide sets these rules (Guideline 423):

• Chimneys: trees trimmed 10 feet back from chimneys and stove pipes.
• Roofs: limbs over the roof and eaves cut back to 3 feet above the roof and 3 feet away.
• Limbing up: trees taller than 6 feet limbed up from the ground 6 feet, or a third of the tree’s height, whichever is less. Fruit trees have their own exception.
• Under trees: leaf litter no deeper than 2 inches and kept at least 12 inches from the trunk, and shrubs and ground cover kept 3 feet from the trunk.
• Palms: kept free of dead fronds.
• New trees: planted so the drip line at full size stays 10 feet from buildings.

Roads and driveways matter for fire trucks. The common requirement in the notice is 10 feet of clearance along roads, and the guide says trees over roadways and driveways should be trimmed so a truck can pass.

Oaks are common in Ojai, Oak View and the hills above Thousand Oaks. Limbing them up the right way, with clean cuts, keeps the tree healthy and meets the rule.

Grass, weeds and the 3 inch rule

For grass, the county’s guide is exact: natural and annual grasses are mowed to a maximum 3 inch stubble, with the clippings removed (Guideline 423). Leaving the clippings on the ground leaves the fuel there.

Timing changes how hard this is. Green grass in March is far less likely to catch from a spark than dry grass in June, and it is easier to cut before it falls over and mats down. Owners who clear early also miss the rush, when every notice in the county comes due in the same few weeks.

Cutting dry grass can start a fire. The tips Ventura County Fire publishes say to do yard work with gas or electric motors before 10 a.m., not in the heat of the day or in wind, never to run a lawn mower in dry vegetation, to use a weed trimmer on dry weeds and grass, and to clear rocks first, because a metal blade striking a hidden rock can start a fire. Spark arresters are required on portable gas equipment in wildland areas (VCFD tips for safe weed clearing).

On slopes too steep for a mower, string trimmers and hand crews do the work, and our mini excavator pulls brush out by the roots on hillsides. Everything cut is hauled away or chipped, never left in piles. Our brush clearing page has the full list.

Fire hazard zones, Zone 0 and selling a home

Two newer rules sit alongside the yearly notice. The first is about new building. Ventura County Fire says that since March 1, 2025, it requires a full 5 foot noncombustible Zone 0 for new buildings and additions to existing buildings, under chapter 6 of the county’s Wildland-Urban Interface Code and VCFD Standard 515 (Ventura County Fire). If you are adding on or building an ADU, plan the first 5 feet with gravel, pavers or concrete instead of mulch and shrubs.

The second is about selling. The county fire department offers Real Estate Defensible Space Compliance Reports, under the state law known as AB 38, for properties in High and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones. If you are listing a home in one of those zones, ask your agent early about the inspection, because the clearance has to be in place for the report.

To see whether your property sits in a mapped fire hazard severity zone, the county links the state’s 2025 combined map viewer from its program page. The county also notes that when a parcel falls in two or more zones, the highest one applies to the whole parcel, and that there are no local fire hazard severity zones within the city of Port Hueneme.

Insurance is the other reason people check. Ventura County Fire says its jurisdiction was recognized as a Fire Risk Reduction Community for 2024 to 2026, one of two community measures insurance companies must consider when setting rates.

What happens if you miss the deadline

If the work isn’t done by the deadline, the fire department’s contractor may clear the property, and the cost of the work plus an administrative fee is added to the property tax bill as a special assessment lien (FHRP FAQ). The county says there is no charge at all if you clear it on time.

The county also explains how those charges can be appealed in its Abatement Assessment and Appeal Process guideline (VCFD Guideline 403). A charge on the tax bill labeled “VCFD Weed Abatement” is that cost.

Once the work is done, you can check online whether your parcel has been approved for the year and print a receipt of approval (FHRP receipt lookup). The county updates the approvals each morning.

If you have sold the property, tell the county Assessor and the FHRP office. The county warns that a seller who doesn’t pass the notice on to the buyer may be liable for the abatement charges.

Getting the work done

If you can’t do the work yourself, the county suggests family, friends, local service groups, or calling the Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council about assistance programs (FHRP FAQ, Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council). The Fire Safe Councils also offer free home wildfire assessments in fire prone areas.

Hiring it out, the best time to book is February through April, before the April 20 notices go out and every crew in the county fills up. Ask for the price to cover the whole 100 feet on your side, the road edge, the trees and the hauling, so nothing is left for a second visit.

At Nico’s Hauling ASAP, brush clearing includes mowing to the 3 inch rule, thinning brush, limbing trees, cutting back from the roof and hauling or chipping everything cut. For overgrown lots that need to go down to bare ground, see land clearing.