Santa Barbara County, CA Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Wildfire risk in unincorporated Santa Barbara County is formally mapped through California's Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) system administered by CAL FIRE and the State Fire Marshal. FHSZ maps classify land as Moderate, High, or Very High based on factors that drive fire behavior and spread. Zones are mapped both in the State Responsibility Area (SRA), where CAL FIRE has wildland fire protection responsibility, and in the Local Responsibility Area (LRA). On March 10, 2025, CAL FIRE released updated FHSZ maps for the Local Responsibility Areas within Santa Barbara County, the first update to the LRA maps since 2009.

Under state law, local agencies must adopt and designate the updated zones within 120 days of the state's release. Local agencies may not reduce the severity level the State assigns, but they may raise a classification or add areas based on local conditions. The county's foothills and chaparral, including the terrain behind Montecito, Goleta, and the Santa Ynez Valley, carry High and Very High designations, consistent with the 2017 Thomas Fire and the January 2018 Montecito debris flow. Living in a designated zone carries real obligations: defensible space clearance under Public Resources Code section 4291, ignition-resistant building standards for new construction and certain remodels in Very High zones, and disclosure of a compliant defensible-space inspection when selling property in a fire hazard severity zone (on and after July 1, 2021). Check your parcel against the County Fire and CAL FIRE maps.