What new Cal Fire maps show about fire hazards in Ventura County

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) -- Cal Fire's fire hazard severity maps are getting a makeover, and homeowners may want to pay attention.

This critical city planning resource - which is getting a major update for the first time in more than 10 years - factors in scientific measurements to determine how fire-prone the cities and counties are in California. The updates are being released in four phases, and Monday's phase 3 update includes Ventura County.

"This map, and the levels of fire hazard, really just match with the conditions our firefighters have been experiencing for several years now," Chief Daniel Berlant, California state fire marshal.

The new maps incorporate information on topography, fire weather, flame length, past fire history, vegetation type and the overall likelihood of a wildfire igniting in the area. They include three hazard categories: moderate, high, and very high.

Eyewitness News data journalist Jill Castellano found that more than 88,000 acres in Ventura County fall into that "very hazardous" category - a 54% increase in acreage since the prior maps from 2011.

Cities with the most hazardous acres of very high fire hazard include Moorpark, Simi Valley, and Thousand Oaks, and the "very high" hazard acreage in Ojai more than tripled. Unincorporated land in Ventura County now includes more than 31,000 acres of very highly hazardous land, a five-fold increase from 2011.

The urgency to update Cal Fire's maps comes from an executive order signed by Governor Gavin Newsom after the January wildfires in Los Angeles. The project was already in the works, Berlant said, but the governor's order sped up the timeline for release.

The updated fire hazard zones were published four months after the Mountain Fire burned nearly 20,000 acres in Ventura County, just South of Santa Paula and Fillmore, and destroyed dozens of homes.

Berlant estimates that 90% of existing homes in wildfire-prone areas were developed well before today's building standards. Cal Fire is now working with local fire departments to educate homeowners on steps they can take to make their older homes more fire resistant.

"If someone is adding onto a home, building a home, there are home hardening requirements that apply that significantly increase the chance of a structure surviving a wildfire," said Ventura County Fire Marshal Joe Morelli.

At a minimum, state law requires homeowners in very high fire hazard zones to clear brush and potential ignition sources within 100 feet of the home, or up to the property line. And for new properties in the zones, developers will have to follow California regulations on fire-resistant building materials.

For homeowners concerned about insurance impacts, Cal Fire stresses that rates should not climb as a result of the new maps. Berlant says insurance companies rely on sophisticated risk modeling that already factors in climate and fire conditions to set premiums.

New fire hazard maps will be released for Los Angeles County and the rest of Southern California on March 24.