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

Modoc County is largely high-desert sagebrush and forested Warner Mountain land at real wildfire risk, and most of it is State Responsibility Area (SRA) where CAL FIRE has primary wildfire-protection responsibility. Modoc County Code Chapter 8.31 ('Modoc County Hazard Severity Zone Designations,' Section 8.31.010, Ord. 298-A, 2008) formally adopts the fire hazard severity maps issued under California Public Resources Code Sections 4201–4204 and implements the requirements of PRC Sections 4290 and 4291. The chapter applies the California Code of Regulations Title 14 fire-safe standards in SRA lands and applies the PRC 4291 defensible-space vegetation clearance requirements in Local Responsibility Area lands designated Very High severity. Under PRC 4291, a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains a building or structure in or adjacent to mountainous, forest-, brush-, or grass-covered SRA land must maintain defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure (not beyond the property line). The space is managed in zones: an inner zone closest to the structure kept lean and free of flammable vegetation, and an outer zone thinned to reduce fire spread. In addition, new dwellings built under the county's limited-density rural dwelling rules (Modoc County Code Section 15.06.350) must comply with defensible-space requirements of PRC 4290 and the wildfire-exposure construction standards in Chapter 7A of the California Building Code / Section R337 of the California Residential Code. CAL FIRE conducts defensible-space inspections in the SRA.