Cathedral City, CA Fire Regulations: Propane Storage (2026)

Section 6109 is added to the Cathedral City Fire Code by § 8.12.060, and its operative text is Section 6109.1.1, New installation of liquefied petroleum gas. Every new installation of LPG with an aggregate capacity of 2,000 gallons or more must be protected by an approved automatic fixed water spray system. The system must protect the entire surface area of the tank and the cargo tanker transfer area, and it must be calculated to provide a minimum density of 0.25 gallons per minute per square foot with a one-hour duration water supply. The trigger is stated as aggregate capacity, not per-tank size, and it applies to new installations.

The rest of LPG storage regulation comes from Chapter 61 of the California Fire Code, Liquefied Petroleum Gases, which § 8.12.050 lists among the Fire Code chapters adopted without local amendments. The Fire Code itself is the 2022 California Fire Code, based on the 2021 International Fire Code, adopted in § 8.12.010. The city text sets no residential gallon limit of its own.

Plan review follows Section 106.1.1 in § 8.12.030: any plan or master engineering report submitted for review must be stamped by a California licensed professional architect or engineer. Structural plans can be stamped by a California Registered Designer with approval from the authority having jurisdiction.

Another LPG rule in the same section covers permanent tiki and luau torches fueled by liquid propane or natural gas (Section 308.3.2.11). The installer submits plans to the Planning Department, then the Building Department and Fire Department, and then obtains an operational permit for use of an open flame device. The flame cannot exceed 12 inches in length, it must sit a minimum of eight feet from ground level, and a radius of five feet from combustibles must be maintained. An approved shut-off valve goes at or near the base of the torch, with a labeled secondary shut-off at a readily accessible remote location.