California Brush Clearing Regulations

Clean Zone

• Any flammable brush and vegetation that's within 30 feet of a building or structure must be removed. If it falls on your property, even if the building or structure in question is on someone else's property, it is your responsibility to clear it or hire a brush clearing company to remove it. Trees also must be trimmed so as not to touch a building or structure and not to fall within 10 feet of a chimney. Vegetation near windows should be pruned or removed altogether.

Reduced Fuel Zone

• The vegetation on the remaining 70 feet of defensible space around your home or other structure must be properly spaced. The amount of spacing required depends on how steep the land is and the types of plants on the property. There must be horizontal space, which is the distance between the trees, brush and other plants, and vertical space, which is the space between brush and shrubs and lower tree limbs. This space keeps wildfires from spreading from plant to plant, giving firefighters a chance to contain the fire. All dead brush should be cleared from the reduced fuel zone.

Tree Spacing Guidelines

• The steeper a slope, the more easily a fire can be carried from plant to plant, so the steeper your land, the more space is required between plants to create a reduced fuel zone. For trees, if the slope is at a 20 percent grade or less, trees should be 10 feet apart. If the slope is 20 to 40 percent, the spacing should be 20 feet. Grades over 40 percent should leave 30 feet between trees. Trees and shrubs can also be in small groups, as long as the spacing between groups meets the guidelines.

Shrub Spacing Guidelines

• If the grade of your slope is 20 percent or less, the space between shrubs or shrub groups should be two times the height of a shrub. For example, a shrub that's 3 feet tall should be 6 feet away from the nearest shrub or group of shrubs. Twenty- to 40-percent grade slopes should leave four times the shrub height between shrubs, and over 40-percent grade should leave six times the shrub height between shrubs. The vertical space between the top of a shrub and the bottom of lower tree branches should be three times the height of the shrub.