Everyone in northern Sonoma County knows someone who lost something in 2017 or 2019. Fire isn't hypothetical here — Cloverdale and the surrounding hills sit in designated fire hazard severity zones, and both Cal Fire and, increasingly, insurance carriers treat defensible space as non-negotiable.
What California actually requires
Public Resources Code 4291 requires 100 feet of defensible space around structures in State Responsibility Areas (or to the property line):
- Zone 0 — 0 to 5 feet (ember-resistant zone): the newest and strictest concept. No combustible mulch, no vegetation touching the structure, nothing under decks. Embers land here; this zone decides whether they find fuel.
- Zone 1 — 5 to 30 feet (lean, clean & green): remove dead vegetation, create separation between trees, no limbs within 10 feet of the chimney, no ladder fuels — the brush that carries ground fire up into the canopy.
- Zone 2 — 30 to 100 feet (reduced fuel): grass down to 4 inches, horizontal and vertical spacing between trees and shrubs, dead material removed.
What the tree work involves
Limbing trees up 6–10 feet to break the fuel ladder, removing dead and dying trees entirely (a beetle-killed oak is standing fuel), creating canopy separation, clearing brush from under trees and along driveways — and keeping your driveway itself clear enough for a fire engine, which needs roughly 12 feet of width and 15 feet of overhead clearance to reach your house at all.
Timing
The smart window is late winter through late spring — after the storms have shown you which limbs failed, before the grass cures and everything gets crispy. By mid-summer, Zone 0 and dead-tree work is still very much worth doing; major clearing near dry grass gets scheduled with fire-safe practices.
Walk the property once with someone who knows what an inspector looks for — assessments are free.
Frequently asked questions
Is 100 feet really required?
In State Responsibility Areas, yes — PRC 4291. Inside city limits, local fire codes apply; either way your insurer may hold you to the stricter standard.
Will this help with my insurance?
Documented compliance helps in renewals, FAIR Plan inspections, and claims. No one can promise a carrier's decision, but vegetation is one of the few risk factors you fully control.
Do I have to remove all my trees?
No — defensible space is spacing and cleanup, not clear-cutting. Healthy, well-spaced, limbed-up trees can stay; dead ones can't.
What about my neighbor's trees?
Your obligation generally runs to your property line. Overhanging limbs from next door are a civil-code conversation — we can document what's encroaching to help you have it.