Brush clearing before the June 1 deadline

The Ventura County rules and the June 1 deadline

Ventura County Fire’s Fire Hazard Reduction Program mails a Notice to Abate Fire Hazard every April 20 to the owners of properties in the program, and clearance is due by June 1 (Ventura County Fire FHRP). The common requirement is 100 feet of clearance from buildings and 10 feet along roads for access. The county says long extensions aren’t granted; if you have started, the fire station on your notice may give a few extra days.

If the work isn’t done, the fire department’s contractor can clear it, and the cost plus an administrative fee is added to the property tax bill as a lien. There is no charge if you clear it by the deadline (FHRP Frequently Asked Questions).

The county program covers all of Ventura County except the cities of Ventura, Oxnard and Fillmore. The City of Ventura runs its own program with the same June 1 deadline for properties in high and very high hazard zones (City of Ventura FHRP). Our guide to Ventura County’s brush clearance rules walks through the notice line by line.

What gets cleared, zone by zone

The county’s Defensible Space Maintenance Guide splits the 100 feet into three zones (Guideline 423):

Zone 0, the first 5 feet from the house, deck or patio: ember resistant. No wood chips, bark or other combustible mulch on new homes, and only well kept, watered plants on existing ones.

Zone 1, 5 to 30 feet: plants kept limited and spaced as single plants, not in groups, so fire can’t climb from one to the next toward the house.

Zone 2, 30 to 100 feet: fuel reduced, with more space between plants to slow a fire down before it reaches the house.

In every zone: dead plants, grass and weeds come out, and natural grass is mowed to a 3 inch stubble with the clippings removed. Trees taller than 6 feet are limbed up 6 feet from the ground or a third of their height, whichever is less, limbs are cut back 10 feet from chimneys and 3 feet above and away from the roof, and palms are kept free of dead fronds.

Santa Barbara County and the cities

Santa Barbara County Fire also requires at least 100 feet of defensible space, and its Standard 6 says weeds are removed or mowed under 4 inches on all properties (Santa Barbara County Fire Standard 6). The City of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria and Montecito have their own fire agencies and distances, so check the agency on your notice.

The county’s Fire Safe Councils offer free home wildfire assessments in fire prone areas (Ventura County Fire), a good first step if you aren’t sure what your property needs. The Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council is one of them.

Cleared before it counts

The busy weeks are late April through May, when every notice in the county comes due at once. Call early: clearing in March or April, before the grass goes to seed and dries out, is easier and safer than in June, and lets the inspection go through the first time.

Mowing and cutting near dry grass can start a fire, which is why Ventura County Fire publishes tips for safe weed clearing. Cut brush is hauled to green waste or chipped, never left in piles that become fuel again.