Pasco, WA Fire Regulations: Brush Clearance (2026)

Pasco does not publish a numeric wildland defensible-space standard (such as a fixed 30-foot or 100-foot clearance) of the kind used in California foothill cities. Instead, dry-vegetation and weed control is handled through the City's nuisance and property-maintenance provisions and the fire-prevention authority in Pasco Municipal Code Chapter 16.65, which adopts the International Fire Code. Under the adopted IFC, the fire code official may order the removal of weeds, grass, vines, or other vegetation that creates a fire hazard, and the City's code-enforcement program addresses overgrown and weedy lots that threaten neighboring property. Pasco's setting in the Tri-Cities is dry shrub-steppe, and grass and brush fires are a recurring summer hazard around the city and in nearby areas such as the Juniper Dunes northeast of town, so keeping cheatgrass, tumbleweeds, and dead vegetation cut back near homes, fences, and outbuildings is both a code expectation and a practical wildfire precaution. Property owners are responsible for maintaining their parcels; the City can send a notice to abate, and if the owner does not comply, the City may abate the hazard and bill the cost to the property. For specific lot conditions, residents should contact the Pasco Code Enforcement / Code Division (509-543-5743). Because numeric distances are not codified, owners should not rely on a fixed clearance figure but should eliminate any vegetation accumulation the fire official deems hazardous.