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

Yolo County's special event facility rules single out venues located in a Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Sec. 306(k)(10) applies to both small special event facilities, which the same subsection ties to Site Plan Review or by-right approval depending on the agricultural zone, and large facilities that exceed those thresholds and typically need a Minor or Major Use Permit. Any application for either tier sited in a Fire Hazard Severity Zone must include a public safety and fire and emergency evacuation plan as part of the permit package, not as something added later during construction.

The code lists five specific elements the plan must cover: a detailed fire plan including an evacuation component, a staffing plan for event days, documented training of employees and staff in all safety procedures, a written smoking policy, and an outright ban on fireworks anywhere on the property during the event. Because this requirement sits inside the same subsection that already regulates special event facility permitting, agricultural compatibility, spray buffers, and Williamson Act consistency in Yolo County (Sec. 306(k)), the fire and evacuation plan functions as an added condition of approval layered onto whatever Use Permit or Site Plan Review the facility already needs, rather than a stand-alone permit process of its own.