Santa Barbara County, CA Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

California's wildfire-zone framework is set by the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) and CAL FIRE under Public Resources Code Sections 4201 to 4204 (State Responsibility Area, or SRA) and Government Code Sections 51175 to 51189 (Local Responsibility Area Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones, or LRA VHFHSZ). Santa Barbara County is one of the highest-rated wildfire counties in California: nearly the entire south-coast foothill belt - from the Gaviota Coast east through Refugio, El Capitan, Hope Ranch, Mission Canyon, Montecito, Summerland, Carpinteria foothills, and the eastern county line into Ventura County - and large portions of the Sisquoc, Tepusquet, Cuyama, Los Olivos, and Santa Ynez Valley uplands are mapped as State Responsibility Area High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. CAL FIRE released revised FHSZ maps in 2024 that further expanded High and Very High zones in Local Responsibility Areas across coastal California, and the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors and city councils are required by Government Code Section 51179 to formally adopt the SRA and LRA maps in their jurisdictions. Designation as an FHSZ triggers a stack of regulations: (1) Public Resources Code Section 4291 requires 100 feet of defensible space; (2) California Building Code Chapter 7A (Materials and Construction Methods for Exterior Wildfire Exposure) requires ignition-resistant exterior materials on new construction and substantial remodels (Class A roofs, ember-resistant vents, tempered or multi-pane windows, ignition-resistant siding, enclosed eaves, and noncombustible decks within 10 feet of the structure); (3) Government Code Section 51182 (AB 38) requires a defensible-space compliance document at the close of any sale on or after July 1, 2021; (4) the County's locally adopted Fire Code in County Code Chapter 15 imposes additional vegetation-management, road-width, and water-supply requirements on new development; (5) California Government Code Section 65302(g)(3) and (4) require the County General Plan's Safety Element to identify wildfire hazards and to be reviewed every five years. Santa Barbara County's recent wildfire history is severe: the 2009 Jesusita Fire destroyed 80 homes in the foothills above Santa Barbara; the 2016 Sherpa Fire (Refugio Canyon) and Rey Fire (Lake Cachuma) burned tens of thousands of acres; the December 2017 Thomas Fire burned 281,893 acres across Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and was the largest in modern California history at the time; the January 9, 2018 Montecito Debris Flow on freshly burned Thomas Fire slopes killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes. The 2025 Lake Fire and other recent incidents continue to drive policy. CAL FIRE Los Padres National Forest cooperators and Santa Barbara County Fire jointly manage SRA suppression and prevention.