www.montereycountynow.com JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 19 sands of homes across Pacific Palisades and Altadena earlier this year. Fueled by the increasingly common cocktail of weather conditions—overgrown, dry brush, little rainfall and high winds— the simultaneous and quick-moving fires made extinguishing them difficult, straining available water pressure and firefighting personnel. Dramatic images depicting hoards of people fleeing Southern California neighborhoods sent the rest of the state into a frenzy. That includes Monterey County, where there have been at least a dozen meetings about wildfire readiness since January. At a wildfire town hall meeting in Monterey in March, roughly 500 residents filed in to pack a Monterey Conference Center ballroom auditorium to listen to a panel of experts. “I know that everyone has been a little rattled, myself included,” Monterey Fire Chief Andrew Miller said. “I think it’s impacted this entire nation. I can’t tell you how many phone calls and emails and concerns and questions I’ve received, and how much I’ve been interacting with the community.” While fire departments shared their plans, as well as statewide plans for reducing fuels through practices like prescribed burning and tree thinning, most of the discussion centered on what homeowners can—and must—do. Back at the home inspection, Perez says his notes will feed into Cal Fire’s comprehensive map documenting what they hope will be every single home in the county, in collaboration with local fire departments to maintain consistent records across jurisdictions. Inspections for existing homes will have a three-year grace period for compliance; new homes must comply immediately. Although Cal Fire can fine people for noncompliance and in rare cases pursue legal action, Perez says the goal is not to punish, and that an overwhelming majority do want to comply and are open to learning how. “We’re trying to create this relationship of trust,” he says. “If I can talk to at least one person in a community, it’s more likely to spread.” A crowd of about 50 people fill the Tularcitos Elementary School multipurpose room in Carmel Valley at a local fire community group meeting in April. People munch on fruit snacks and popcorn as a video demonstration depicts two homes, one soon to burst into flames. The video shows Cal Fire workers setting fire to the ground equidistant from each home. One was built to code with a 0-5 foot perimeter clear of debris. The other was not built to code, with bark and plants within that first 5 feet. The latter burns to the ground within minutes, while the former remains; the experiment took no more than 10 minutes to conduct. The video prompts the audience to ask granular questions about decision like stucco versus wood, herb bushes versus potted plants. In response to the L.A. wildfires, Cal Fire released new Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps for Central California in March, which added over 1.2 million acres—effectively quadrupling the designated fire-hazard acreage in Monterey County. For the first time, these maps show a more nuanced fire-hazard severity picture that include “Moderate,” “High” and “Very High” hazard zones, with many neighborhoods suddenly finding themselves in the middle of a crimson red block. The new map, for example, brought the acreage in the “Very High” hazard zone category up from 1,106 acres in 2011 to 1,220 in the city of Monterey, 221 to 278 acres in Carmel, and 82 to 167 in Pacific Grove. In lockstep with the new maps, “Defensible Space” is the phrase that— while not new—has taken fire agencies by storm when it comes to compliance: a first layer of protection homeowners can do that’s proven to help slow wildfires by reducing the potential for flying embers to ignite. “Am I going to put three people’s lives at risk to go down that sketchy driveway to help protect your house that you took no action to help protect?” Cal Fire Battalion Chief Richard Lopez says. “Defensible space really gives us a fighting chance.” Though Zone Zero is the most critical area for wildfire defense, these zones are ultimately organizational tools for humans—fire knows no boundaries and rises and falls with the weather. A home cleared of debris within 5 feet can still be vulnerable if it’s surrounded by dense brush or sappy, untamed trees or neighboring homes that have done nothing to remove flammable materials. And luck always plays a part. Drone photos and reporting from the L.A. wildfires offer a striking case study: solitary homes that remain standing amid neighborhoods reduced to ash. Some of their structural advantages? Dual-pane windows made of tempered glass, fire-resistant and slanted roofs, stucco. Some homeowners are expanding their attention from Zone 0 to Zones 1 and 2—the areas 5-30 feet, and 30-100 feet from a home, respectively. While the state doesn’t enforce compliance in Opposite page, top: Firefighters respond to a fire near Carmel Valley Village on June 16. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. Below: Tools used by the Big Sur hand crew for cutting banks, chopping, grubbing and clearing debris. According to the U.S. Forest Service, “Homes in Monterey County have, on average, greater risk than 99 percent of counties in the U.S.,” driven largely by the landscape in Big Sur and Carmel Valley. At right, top: Two firefighters with the new Big Sur hand crew assess where to cut a dead tree during a training session in May. Below: Cal Fire’s Luis Perez checks the Field Maps application, which tracks home inspections and compliance. KATIE RODRIGUEZ KATIE RODRIGUEZ
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