Calaveras County, CA Fire Regulations: Brush Clearance (2026)

Defensible space in unincorporated Calaveras County is governed by state law - California Public Resources Code (PRC) 4291 - rather than a more lenient local rule. PRC 4291 requires a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains a building or structure in, upon, or adjoining a mountainous area, forest-covered land, brush-covered land, grass-covered land, or land covered with flammable material in the State Responsibility Area (SRA) to maintain defensible space of 100 feet from each building or structure (or to the property line). CAL FIRE administers a zone-based approach: Zone 1 covers 0-30 feet around the home (remove dead plants, grass, and weeds and keep things lean and green), and Zone 2 covers 30-100 feet (reduced/managed fuels, including cutting annual grasses to a maximum height of about 4 inches and spacing trees and shrubs). California has also added Zone 0, the 'ember-resistant' 0-5 foot zone immediately around the structure, as it is phased in. CAL FIRE Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit (TCU) and partners conduct defensible space inspections in the SRA, and inspectors may issue notices of violation when standards are not met. Since July 1, 2021, sellers of property in a high or very high fire hazard severity zone must provide documentation of a defensible space inspection. Given the 2015 Butte Fire, which destroyed hundreds of homes in Calaveras County, defensible space compliance is treated as a critical, enforceable obligation, not a suggestion.