San Benito County, CA Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

San Benito County is a real wildfire-risk county: valley agriculture around Hollister and the San Juan Valley gives way to dry grassland and oak hills in the Diablo Range, Panoche, and the country around Pinnacles National Park. CAL FIRE's San Benito-Monterey Unit (BEU) protects the State Responsibility Area (SRA) that covers much of this backcountry. Two overlapping map systems define hazard. First, within the SRA, CAL FIRE maps Fire Hazard Severity Zones under Public Resources Code sections 4201-4204 using fuel loading, slope, fire weather, and wind patterns. Second, the California Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) released updated 2025 Local Responsibility Area (LRA) FHSZ maps; per BenitoLink's reporting, these maps cover three jurisdictions - the City of Hollister, the City of San Juan Bautista, and the County of San Benito (unincorporated areas) - and 'areas of San Benito county fall into all three classifications (moderate, high, and very high).' Being mapped into a hazard zone has consequences: parcels in the SRA or in a Very High FHSZ must maintain 100 feet of defensible space under PRC 4291; new construction in higher-hazard zones is subject to California Building Code Chapter 7A wildland-urban-interface ignition-resistant standards; and sellers must disclose Fire Hazard Severity Zone status to buyers through the Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement under Civil Code section 1103 and Government Code section 51183.5.