The City of San Diego wants to remind you about the importance of properly maintaining trees and landscaping to protect your home and our communities from wildfire risks. On a new webpage, you can learn the basics of brush management to reduce the risk of fires and give firefighters more time and room to respond to a fire. The webpage also provides key steps to follow for people who live near environmentally sensitive lands. 

"All San Diegans are encouraged to evaluate their property and take action to mitigate the risks of wildfire damage," said Fire-Rescue Chief Robert Logan. "The new webpage offers valuable recommendations and resources." 

Within San Diego’s geographical boundaries, there are more than 500 linear miles where homes meet dense vegetation in canyons and other open-space areas. If you are a property owner who lives near these areas, you should maintain at least 100 feet of defensible space around your home and habitable structures. Defensible space is the buffer zone between a building and the surrounding area and is divided into two zones, identified as Zone 1 and Zone 2. A new Zone 0, which can be considered the third zone, asks for homeowners to have no vegetation or brush within zero to five feet from structures.  

Zone 1 extends 35 feet from a home, and Zone 2 extends 65 feet out from the end of Zone 1. Both zones require different brush management practices, especially since Zone 2 often consists of undisturbed vegetation that may be subject to protections for environmentally sensitive lands. This includes coastal sage scrub, maritime succulent scrub and coastal sage-chaparral habitats. 

To minimize the impact on the threatened and endangered plants and animals that can live in these areas, such as the California gnatcatcher and the western burrowing owl, now is the time to conduct brush management, which must occur between Aug. 16 and Jan. 31 to avoid the breeding season. To conduct brush management outside of this time, an exception must be granted by the City. 

To see if you live near environmentally sensitive lands, also known as the Multi-Habitat Planning Area (MHPA), you can view this map. To learn if you live near open space, you can view this Parks and Recreation Open Space webpage.   

“The species and habitats living on our environmentally sensitive lands enhance the region’s quality of life,” said City Planning Director Heidi Vonblum. “We can all do our part to save lives and property from wildfire while also ensuring that we protect sensitive plants and animals by taking a few extra steps, such as conducting brush management outside of breeding season.”  

Remember that you can always visit the Guide to Brush Management webpage to learn more about the exact steps you need to take if you live near environmentally sensitive lands, as well as tips on how to correctly prune shrubs and trim trees.