Madera County, CA Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

About half of Madera County is Sierra foothill and mountain terrain, including Oakhurst, Bass Lake, North Fork and surrounding communities, much of which CAL FIRE classifies as State Responsibility Area (SRA) with High and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones. These designations carry real legal consequences. In the SRA, California Public Resources Code section 4291 requires 100 feet of defensible space around structures (or to the property line), structured by CAL FIRE into an ember-resistant 0-5 foot zone, a 5-30 foot intensive fuel-reduction zone, and a 30-100 foot fuel-management zone. New construction and certain rebuilds in designated zones must also meet California's Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) building standards (ignition-resistant materials, ember-resistant vents, and similar requirements). Madera County implements fire-zone and fire-code provisions through county code Title 14, Division I (Uniform Codes), Chapter 14.32 (Fire Zones), alongside its adoption of the California Fire Code in Chapter 14.35. CAL FIRE (Madera-Mariposa-Merced Unit) and county fire provide wildfire protection and conduct defensible-space inspections in these areas. Property owners in the foothills should expect stricter rules on fireworks (all banned east of the Madera Canal), open burning, defensible space, and building materials than valley-floor properties face.