Merced, CA Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Unlike hillside or foothill cities, the City of Merced sits on the flat San Joaquin Valley floor surrounded by irrigated farmland, so it is largely not subject to wildland-fire hazard. The CAL FIRE Office of the State Fire Marshal published updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) maps for Local Responsibility Areas, and the version covering the City of Merced - revised in 2024 and released February 24, 2025 under Government Code 51178 - identifies only a Moderate Fire Hazard Severity Zone in the northeast section of the city limits. There is no High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone mapped within the city. The City is required under Government Code Section 51178.5 to designate the Moderate zone by ordinance within 120 days of receiving the State Fire Marshal's recommendation, and City staff recommended accepting the State Fire Marshal-provided map without amendment. Practical consequences: for the small northeast Moderate-zone area, owners should follow defensible-space best practices, and AB 38 wildfire-disclosure and Chapter 7A wildfire-construction rules primarily attach to High and Very High zones (which Merced does not have). For the rest of the city, the wildfire-specific 100-foot defensible-space and disclosure requirements do not apply. Because Merced is on the valley floor, the more significant seasonal hazard is air quality and open-burning smoke regulated by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, not wildfire spread.