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

The Kern County Fire Department administers the Hazard Reduction Program under Kern County Ordinance Code Chapter 8.46 (Weeds and Other Hazardous Growths), which requires owners and persons in charge of residential units, businesses, and vacant lots in unincorporated Kern County to keep premises free of excessive accumulations of weeds and other hazardous growths. KCFD's published clearance standards require a 30-foot clearance of all non-ornamental combustibles and vegetation (including wood piles) around all structures, a total 100-foot fuel reduction around all structures, removal of trees and limbs within 10 feet of stovepipe and chimney outlets, removal of dead limbs overhanging or adjacent to structures, clearing roofs of combustible vegetation, a 10-foot clearance of combustible material around LPG and fuel tanks, and a minimum 10-foot clearance along property lines that encroach on the 100-foot defensible space of adjacent structures. Property owners in State Responsibility Areas must complete clearance by June 1 annually, before fire-season inspections, and are expected to keep properties clear of fire hazards year-round. State defensible-space law (Government Code section 51182 and Public Resources Code section 4291) independently requires 100 feet of defensible space in SRA and designated fire hazard severity zones.