WILDFIRE -Prevention

Community Wildfire Protection Plan for Summerland and CarpinteriaThe Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District wants to make sure you are fire safe this fire season. Unmaintained yards and ornamental vegetation are a significant threat to your home and family. We need your assistance in ensuring that a defensible space is maintained around your home and family.

Required clearance of native vegetation and properly maintained ornamental vegetation is the first line of defense against wildfires. 2016 California Fire Code CSFD Fire Code Chap 49 and the California Public Resources Code and Government Code.

  • Remove all flammable vegetation within 30 feet of the structure. Single trees, ornamental shrubbery or cultivated ground cover may be permitted so long as they are maintained in such a manner that they do not readily transmit fire from native vegetation to the structure.

  • Thin out or remove additional flammable vegetation from 30-100 feet from your buildings.

  • Stack firewood and combustibles at least 30 feet from structures.

  • Remove piles of construction debris, leaves and litter near structures.

  • Clear your rain gutters, remove dead branches overhanging your roof.

  • Keep tree branches and combustibles at least 10 feet from your chimney.

  • The chimney needs a spark arrestor with a metal non-flammable screen of 1/4” or smaller mesh.

  • Driveways should have 13’6” overhead clearance for fire trucks.

  • Driveways need 10 foot of clearance on either side to make sure you can escape in a fire.

  • Address sign numbers must to be of contrasting color to background and be a minimum of four (4) inches tall with a minimum of one-half (1/2) inch stroke.

  • Gates need Fire District access with the use of a key switch, padlock, or similar device approved by the Fire District.

Thank you for your interest in fire safety!

Recent News and Events

"The extreme timeliness of the crew's response was actually a giant benefit and we will never need to know what great damage she would have experienced had the response not been so very rapid."
Leonard Cole
Captain, LAFD Ret.