Coeur d'Alene, ID Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Coeur d'Alene handles wildfire risk through the Hillside Overlay Zone in Chapter 17.08, Article IX, not through a separate citywide fire-hazard map. Section 17.08.900 lists reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire in the wildland-urban interface among the purposes of the overlay, next to controls on soil erosion, sedimentation of lower slopes, slide damage and flooding. Section 17.08.905 applies the article to all land within the Hillside Overlay Zone shown in Exhibit A and to all lands annexed into the City limits after May 1, 2005. Lands with an average slope of less than fifteen percent (15%) inside the zone are exempt.

Section 17.08.910 defines wildfire mitigation as reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire through fire resistive construction, fuel modification, creation of survivable/defensible space, firebreaks, and improved fire department access and water supplies. The wildland-urban interface is any area where structures or other development meets or intermingles with wildland or vegetative fuels. Under Section 17.08.915(B), the city determines the wildfire mitigation goals for each development prior to development, and the developer achieves them using the applicable sections of the Kootenai County wildland-urban interface fire mitigation plan, the 2000 urban-wildland interface code and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards as guidelines.

The goals reach into tree rules. Under Section 17.08.930, trees in areas set aside to remain in a natural state can be removed with city approval when removal is required to achieve the wildfire mitigation goals, and trees removed for that reason need not be replaced. Replacement trees must follow the project's wildfire mitigation goals, and the city's urban forester has discretion to adjust the species or location. Replacements are a minimum of one inch caliper for deciduous trees and a minimum height of four feet for evergreens. Before any soil disturbing activity, an inventory must locate all trees greater than six inches dbh.

Section 17.08.950 requires maintenance requirements and responsibility to be clearly identified for projects that rely on best management practices, including fuel modification for wildfire mitigation.