A Major New Report on the 2025 Fires
The Governor-Commissioned Fire Report by the UL Research Institutes’ Fire Safety Research Institute has released an exceptionally thorough 724-page independent analysis of the 2025 Southern California wildfires. The report identifies 175 findings and 266 recommendations addressing evacuation, emergency communications, utilities, vegetation, transportation, firefighting and community resilience. Los Angeles County has now directed its departments to review the findings and identify measures that can be implemented in the near term.
California Strengthens Local Wildfire Prevention
Gov. Newsom signed SB 973, the Wildfire County Coordinator Program, into law. Co-sponsored by the California Fire Safe Council and Megafire Action, SB 973 is part of the Joint Megafire Prevention Package, the most comprehensive state-level legislative package aimed at mitigating destructive megafires in U.S. history. As Gov. Newsom noted, “The goal has always been bigger than responding to the next fire; it’s about leaving California safer, stronger, and better prepared for the generations that follow.”
Zone Zero Regulations Withdrawn from State Review
The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has withdrawn its proposed Zone Zero emergency regulations from review by the Office of Administrative Law.
OAL lists Zone 0 Defensible Space, File No. 2026-0828-03E, as withdrawn September 8, 2026. The regulations therefore did not move forward under this filing and may be revised and resubmitted.
California Wildfire Preparedness Update
CAL FIRES COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER
The latest edition update highlights statewide wildfire-response and preparedness efforts, including fuel reduction, mutual aid, and community resilience. For hillside communities like Hollywoodland, the larger message is local: wildfire readiness begins before the next emergency.
California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection Approves First-in-the-Nation Zone 0 Defensible Space Regulations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2026
Sacramento, CA — The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection today approved the final draft of Zone 0 defensible space regulations, marking another critical step in the state’s ongoing effort to better protect homes and communities from wildfire.
Directed by legislation including Assembly Bill 3074 (2020), Senate Bill 504 (2024), Assembly Bill 1455 (2025), and Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order N-18-25 in 2025, the new regulation adds to California’s growing list of wildfire resilience efforts and focuses on practical wildfire safety actions for the first five feet around homes and structures—an area where professional experience and research indicate that homes are most vulnerable to ignition from embers.