Existing law requires the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to identify areas in the state as very high fire hazard severity zones based on specified criteria and the severity of the fire hazard. Existing law requires a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or structure in, upon, or adjoining a mountainous area, forest-covered land, brush-covered land, grass-covered land, or land that is covered with flammable material that is within a very high fire hazard severity zone, as designated by a local agency, or a building or structure in, upon, or adjoining those areas or lands within a state responsibility area, to maintain a defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure, as specified.
This bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to develop and implement a training program, as provided, to train individuals to support and augment the department in its defensible space and home hardening assessment and education efforts. The bill would require the department to issue a certification of completion to individuals who have successfully completed the training program. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2025.