On this page
Home / Guides / How to read a record / How to read a CAL FIRE FHSZ map
How to read a CAL FIRE FHSZ map
A Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) map is a California hazard map. CAL FIRE colors land Moderate, High, or Very High from fuel, slope, weather, embers, and fire history. It is not a prediction that your house will burn. It is not an insurance rate. It is not Oregon R327. Search the address at osfm.fire.ca.gov/FHSZ. Then ask whether the lot is State or Local Responsibility Area.
You are in the FHSZ viewer. You typed an address. The parcel is Moderate, High, or Very High, or it sits on a Local Responsibility Area map your city may still be adopting. That color is hazard, not a survival score.
Why it matters
People treat the color as a permit, an insurance decision, or a reason to skip hardening. CAL FIRE says the maps evaluate “hazard,” not “risk.” Hazard is the physical condition over 30 to 50 years without counting home hardening, a recent wildfire, or fuel reduction. Risk is the damage a fire can do under existing conditions, including those modifications (OSFM FHSZ page). If you skip that split, you will read the map as a verdict on the house you already built.
The zones are also how California points at defensible space and WUI construction rules. That job is CWUIC as of 1 January 2026. See Oregon R327 versus California CWUIC.
How the map is built
The State Fire Marshal classifies State Responsibility Area (SRA) lands under Public Resources Code 4201–4204. Government Code 51175–89 covers identification of Moderate, High, and Very High zones. CAL FIRE’s 18 December 2024 FAQ quotes both statutes.
The model scores the chance an area burns and the fire behavior expected under extreme fuel and weather. Inputs include fire history, vegetation (fuel over a 30- to 50-year horizon), flame length, blowing embers, terrain, and typical fire weather. Outside wildlands, it also looks at urban vegetation, proximity to wildland, and hazard in nearby wildland. CAL FIRE states FHSZs are not a structure-loss model. Roof type and other ignition details of your house are not in the score.
SRA maps completed at the end of 2023 and became effective 1 April 2024. 2025 Local Responsibility Area recommended maps went out in four phases (10 February, 24 February, 10 March, and 24 March 2025). For LRA, OSFM says contact the local jurisdiction.
What the colors actually bind
| Lot | What the map is | What people mix up |
|---|---|---|
| SRA | All SRA is in an FHSZ. Moderate, High, or Very High. The 18 December 2024 FAQ says WUI building codes apply throughout all SRA, regardless of ranking. | Treating Moderate as “no WUI code” |
| LRA | Incorporated cities and other local-protection lands. SB 63 (2021) added Moderate and High to Very High for local adoption. The FAQ says WUI building codes for new buildings in High and Very High LRA FHSZs. 100-foot defensible-space clearance applies in Very High LRA FHSZs under Government Code 51182 unless the local rule is stricter. Recommended 2025 maps still need local ordinance. | Treating a recommended LRA color as already adopted |
| Oregon | No FHSZ. R327 only where adopted. | Pasting a CAL FIRE color onto a Bend or Deschutes sheet |
The FAQ still names Chapter 7A. The live book is CWUIC. Same mapped-area job. Different book name.
Zone 0 is a defensible-space rule, not an FHSZ class. California’s Board of Forestry voted Zone 0 language on 19 August 2026. As of 23 August 2026 that rule was not yet in force. See Zone 0.
What people mix up
- Reading Very High as “this house will burn,” or Moderate as “this house is safe.”
- Treating FHSZ as an insurance rate map. The Department of Insurance’s 4 April 2025 alert says CAL FIRE hazard maps do not affect rates or availability. Carriers use risk models.
- Importing FHSZ onto Oregon. R327 is local adoption, not a CAL FIRE map.
- Treating the SRA viewer as the LRA ordinance. OSFM tells you to contact the local jurisdiction for LRA.
- Skipping WUI construction in SRA because the color is not Very High. The FAQ says the codes apply throughout all SRA.
- Using the CPUC High Fire Threat District map as FHSZ. CAL FIRE says that map is for utility-associated wildfire, not this program.
- Treating FHSZ as Zone 0, Firewise, or IBHS Essential. Different documents.
- Treating a 2024 FAQ “Chapter 7A” sentence as the 2026 book name.
How to check
- Open osfm.fire.ca.gov/FHSZ. Search the address.
- Note SRA versus LRA. SRA is where the state has wildfire-protection responsibility. LRA is local (typically a city fire department).
- Read the class. Moderate, High, or Very High. If the viewer is quiet on LRA, call the city or county. 2025 LRA maps were recommended in phases. Adoption is local.
- If the lot is in California mapped WUI, the construction book is CWUIC, not Oregon R327.
- If the lot is in Oregon, stop using this map for the permit. Read R327 versus CWUIC and the adoption dataset.
- Do not treat the color as an insurance quote. See the DOI alert.
- Do not treat the color as Zone 0.
Limits
This page does not look up your address. It is not a 50-state tracker and not a permit. It does not host CAL FIRE GIS. It does not replace the Zone 0 guide or the CWUIC hub.
The OSFM program page returned HTTP 403 from this session’s crawler. The claims above were read from the 9 August 2026 archived copy of that same URL, plus the FAQ and DOI PDFs opened live. Confirm the live OSFM page.
FireApproved is not CAL FIRE and not the AHJ.
Related records
Questions
Does a Very High color mean my house will burn?
No. CAL FIRE states the maps evaluate hazard, not risk. Hazard is physical conditions over a 30- to 50-year period without counting home hardening, recent wildfire, or fuel reduction. Risk is the damage a fire can do under existing conditions, including those modifications.
If I am not Very High, do WUI building codes skip me?
Not in State Responsibility Area. CAL FIRE’s 18 December 2024 FAQ says the WUI building codes apply throughout all SRA, regardless of Moderate, High, or Very High ranking. In Local Responsibility Area, that FAQ names High and Very High for the WUI building codes. The live California construction book as of 1 January 2026 is CWUIC. Confirm with the building official.
Does this map set my insurance rate?
The California Department of Insurance’s 4 April 2025 consumer alert says CAL FIRE hazard maps do not affect insurance rates or availability. Carriers use their own risk models. This page is not an insurance quote.
Does Oregon use FHSZ?
No. Oregon R327 is adopted city by city or county by county. It is not a CAL FIRE map. Do not import an FHSZ color onto a Bend or Deschutes drawing.