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

Wildfire regulation in unincorporated Merced County combines local fire-hazard abatement rules with state mapping and defensible-space law. The geographic reality is that the great majority of the county is flat San Joaquin Valley floor devoted to irrigated agriculture, where wildfire risk is comparatively low; the higher-hazard terrain is the dry annual grassland and rolling foothills in the eastern part of the county toward the Mariposa County line, which can carry fast-moving grass fires in summer. CAL FIRE's Office of the State Fire Marshal maps Fire Hazard Severity Zones (moderate, high, very high) statewide, and Merced County publishes access to those maps for review; property owners should consult the CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zone viewer to see their parcel's classification. Where unincorporated land falls within a State Responsibility Area (SRA)-the area where the state, through CAL FIRE, has primary wildfire-protection responsibility-Public Resources Code 4291 requires owners to maintain 100 feet of defensible space around buildings and structures (or to the property line). Locally, Merced County Code Chapter 9.25 (Fire Hazard Abatement) independently requires owners throughout the unincorporated area to remove dry grass, brush, and combustible debris that create a fire hazard, regardless of mapped zone. There is no indication Merced County has adopted very-high-fire-hazard-severity-zone building standards across the bulk of its valley-floor territory, but foothill parcels may be subject to SRA rules.