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

Lassen County's forested mountains and high desert place most of the county in the State Responsibility Area (SRA), where CAL FIRE's Lassen-Modoc Unit (LMU) is responsible for wildfire prevention and suppression. Under California Public Resources Code 4201-4204, the State Fire Marshal classifies SRA land into Fire Hazard Severity Zones ranked Moderate, High, and Very High, based on fuels, slope, and fire weather; large portions of Lassen County fall into the High and Very High categories. The county's recent fire history underscores the risk: the 2021 Dixie Fire began in Butte County on July 13, 2021, grew to 963,309 acres across Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta, and Tehama counties — the largest single-source wildfire in recorded California history — and destroyed much of Greenville before full containment on October 25, 2021. In 2020, the lightning-caused Sheep Fire near Susanville burned roughly 29,570 acres in Lassen and Plumas counties. Living in these zones triggers mandatory PRC 4291 100-foot defensible space, may affect building standards under the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) provisions of the California Building Code (Chapter 7A), and influences home-insurance availability. The Lassen County Code addresses local fire hazards through Chapter 9.16 (Fire Hazards), and the Lassen County Office of Emergency Services coordinates evacuation planning.