Year-Round Hazard Abatement Program (including vacant lots)

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Fires are a serious problem in California. In an effort to reduce the threat of wildfires, the Woodside Fire Protection District (WFPD) has determined that accumulation of combustible vegetation and rubbish endanger the health, safety and welfare of Fire District Residents and are dangerous to your property, your neighbors and your community.

File a Hazard Abatement Complaint

🔥Importance of Year-Round Vegetation Management and Defensible Space

1. Wildfires Are Not Seasonal—They Are Year-Round Threats

While "fire season" has traditionally referred to late spring through early fall, climate change has drastically altered wildfire patterns across California. Research and recent history have shown that major wildfires increasingly occur outside these months, particularly between October and March, which were once considered lower risk due to rainfall and cooler temperatures.

Notable fires occurring outside the traditional fire season include:

Tubbs Fire (October 2017): Destroyed over 5,600 structures and caused 22 deaths.
Camp Fire (November 2018): The deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, claiming 85 lives and devastating the town of Paradise.
CZU Lightning Complex (August–September 2020): Burned over 86,000 acres in San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties.
NOTE: Both Fire Below Erupted at the same time on January 7, 2025
Palisades Fire (January 2025): Ignited amid a prolonged winter drought, the fire scorched over 18,000 acres in the hills above Los Angeles, damaging multiple structures and forcing thousands to evacuate.
Eaton Fire (January 2025): Fueled by dry brush and Santa Ana winds, this fast-moving wildfire in Riverside County burned through more than 12,000 acres and threatened several residential communities.

These events prove that dead, dry, or dying vegetation can ignite at any time, especially when combined with drought conditions, low humidity, and wind events like the Diablo winds that peak in the fall and early winter months. The notion of a defined "fire season" is no longer valid—every season is fire season in California.

2. Legal and Public Safety Requirements

The Woodside Fire Protection District requires defensible space year-round under Ordinance No. 24-01 Fuel Mitigation Ordinance. Property owners must:

Remove combustible vegetation within 100 feet of structures
Maintain Zone 0 (0-5 ft), Zone 1 (5-30 ft), and Zone 2 (30-100 ft)
Ensure access roads are clear and vegetation is trimmed

Additionally, WFPD adopted a local ordinance, No. 23-02 – Public Nuisance for Fire Hazard Abatement (FHA). The primary function of the Fire Hazard Abatement Program is to reduce the risk of fires within communities by proactively establishing defensible space and reducing/removing flammable materials on properties.

The FHA Program conducts property surveys and responds to complaints year-round, identifying hazardous conditions. It exists to enforce safety standards, not as a service. Property owners are responsible for maintaining their parcels either through their own efforts or by hiring a private contractor. These standards apply to all parcels, including vacant lots.

Woodside Fire Protection District’s ordinances (Nos. 23-02 and 24-01) declare that hazardous vegetation and combustible material:

Pose a public nuisance and a serious fire hazard to life, property, and natural resources.
Must be abated year-round by property owners and responsible parties.

3. Fuel Loads and Fire Behavior in Local Vegetation

The Woodside region’s natural vegetation includes chaparral, oak woodlands, and grasslands, all of which become extremely combustible during dry conditions—even during winter months due to drought and wind.

As vegetation ages or dries out:

It accumulates dead woody debris, which becomes highly flammable.
Wind-driven fires can spread up to 65 mph in old brush, even in winter.
Embers from wildfires can travel miles ahead of the fire front and ignite dry vegetation near structures.

4. Protecting Lives, Property, and the Environment

Maintaining your property reduces the risk of:

Structure ignition from embers
Fire spread to adjacent parcels
Evacuation delays due to congested or overgrown roads
Post-fire hazards such as landslides, erosion, and air/water pollution

By proactively managing vegetation:

You support firefighter safety and access
You enhance community-wide resilience
You contribute to ecological health by minimizing high-intensity wildfires

Wildfire risk is not confined to a season—it's a year-round challenge that requires consistent action. Maintaining your parcel free of dead, dry, and hazardous vegetation is not only a legal requirement but a vital practice to protect your home, neighbors, firefighters, and the environment.

For residents of the Woodside Fire Protection District, strict fuel mitigation standards reflect the evolving understanding that wildfire season is now every season. By acting year-round, we reduce risk, save lives, and preserve our communities.

Specifically:

Abatement Requirements with NO structures (open, vacant lots)

Grasses and forbs shall be cut to less than 4 inches - when dry
Removal of dead, diseased, or dying trees
Prune trees to remove dead material
Trim trees: (Limbs and undergrowth) create six feet of vertical spacing between branches or foliage off the ground or the lower 1/3 of branches for trees less than 18ft.
Non-irrigated dead brush removed
Remove all combustible material or rubbish from the property
Access Roads: 10 ft horizontally from the edge of the roads and 13 ft 6in vertically overhead clearance.
- Thin / Trim / Prune / Cut back trees and vegetation 13ft6in unobstructed overhead (vertical) clearance and 10ft from sides of the road (horizontally) in the same manner as defensible space requirements (found in the guidelines)
- Remove dead or dying vegetation, encroaching the roadway
- Consider removal of hazardous vegetation (flammable five) such as juniper, cypress, pine, acacia, eucalyptus, and bamboo within 10ft of the roadway

Abatement Requirements with Structures

Note: Home Assessment Program: Enforcement of ordinance 24-01 is still in progress. If we have not completed your home assessment, you are not subject to any enforcement actions.

However, this does not mean you should delay in meeting the requirements of 24-01. There should be no delay, start now to protect your home and your property so by the time we do come around, the list to comply is not long. Zone 0 is the only new requirement.

Defensible space has been around for many years and was recommended, now, there is legal obligation to maintain it. Use the "Self-Assessment Checklist" to assist in preparing, begin to complete a little at a time. Start now!

The Home Assessment Program is not to be confused with your year-round responsibilities to remove all dry/dead vegetation on your property especially along the roads and driveways.

Ordinance No. 24-01 requires maintaining 100 feet of defensible space around all structures with specific vegetation management zones (Zone 0–2) that dictate how material must be cleared or managed.
Zone 0 (0–5 feet): Must be free of all combustible material, including dry leaves, bark, and dead branches. (No enforcement until your home assessment is completed; you have 1 year to comply if demonstrating substantial progress throughout the 12-months). Why wait start now!
Zone 1 (5–30 feet): Requires thinning of vegetation and removal of ladder fuels.
Zone 2 (30–100 feet): Involves broader fuel reduction measures including grass trimming and spacing of vegetation.

Failure to comply can result in:

Enforcement actions
Financial liability for abatement costs
Legal penalties

Fire Hazard Abatement is an important component in keeping our communities safe and minimizing the devastating effects of wildfires within our communities.

File a Hazard Abatement Complaint
Download the Guidelines for Defensible Space (Interpretation of Ordinance 24-01)

Process

Fire hazards are identified and notices to abate the hazard(s) are mailed to property owners. Property owners are given 10 days to abate the violations, unless they contact the Fire District and request for an extension. Failure to abate may result in citations, penalties, and/or fees for abatement by WFPD.

Initial property surveys are conducted
A Notice and Order to Abate is issued to properties where fire hazards have been identified.
There is a 10-day timeframe to comply or to contact WFPD to request an extension.
A property owner may appeal the Notice and Order to Abate within the 10-day compliance timeframe.
A second survey (10-15 days later) is conducted after the Notice and Order to Abate compliance
Non-compliant properties are issued a Notice and Intent to Abate notice following the second property survey.
Non-compliant properties may also receive a Pre-Citation Notice, prior to issuing an Administrative Citation.
The property owner has an additional 10 days from the Notice and Intent to Abate mailing date to contact our office and submit photographic evidence of completed abatement or an inspector will return to verify.
WFPD will initiate action to abate fire hazards on the non-compliant parcels at the owner's expense.
The contractor completes the abatement, and the property owner is billed for the work.
An abatement invoice is generated and sent to the property owner of the non-compliant property for all outstanding costs, which may include: Non-compliance fee, administrative fee, contractor abatement cost.
After 30 days of non-payment, a special assessment and a lien will be placed against the property. San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder will be notified of the unpaid bill.
A property owner may appeal to the Board of Directors in writing, and filed with the Fire Code Official within 10 days of receipt of this Notice and Order to Abate.
- All such property owners having objections to the removal of such combustible and hazardous vegetation, are hereby notified to attend a meeting of The Board of Directors, to be held at the hour of 7:00 p.m. on the last Tuesday of the month, where objections will be heard and given due consideration.
- Information on how to attend the meeting virtually and make a public comment can be found on the agenda, which is available on our website: https://www.woodsidefire.org/our-district/district-overview/board-of-directors/meeting-agendas-and-minutes/-folder-82 72 hours prior to the meeting.
- In the event of an appeal, the nuisance must be abated 10 calendar days from the District Board of Director’s decision, unless the appeal is sustained.

Administrative Citation Information