Tustin, CA Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Tustin's Fire Code amendments add fuel modification and wildfire-area equipment rules that apply across the city's designated fire hazard land. Section 324.1, added at City Code § 8104(m), requires every new structure or facility adjoining land with hazardous combustible vegetation to be built in accordance with OCFA Guideline C-05, the Vegetation Management Guideline for New Construction Fuel Modification Plans, which the fire code official uses to approve the project's fuel modification plan. A parallel amendment to California Residential Code Section R301.9, adopted at City Code § 8103(b), applies the same OCFA Guideline C-05 standard to new residential construction adjoining hazardous vegetation.

Separately, Section 327.2, added at City Code § 8104(q), restricts the use of heat, spark or open-flame equipment, including welding equipment, cutting torches, tar pots and grinding devices, at any time of year within Wildfire Risk Areas or on land adjacent to forest, brush or non-irrigated grass. Before using that equipment there, the operator must first clear away all flammable material, including snags, for 30 feet around the work area, unless the fire code official approves another method to reduce fire spread into the wildlands, and must keep a serviceable round-point shovel at least 46 inches long and a charged backpack pump water-type fire extinguisher on hand at the work site for the duration of the operation.

The fire code official can also suspend or adjust the broader vegetation-management requirements for reasons such as difficult terrain, erosion risk, protected plant species, or heritage tree stands, and the same Fire Code chapter separately regulates roadside vegetation clearance and other wildfire-area equipment provisions.