Zone Zero – let them hear from you on 9/22/2025

By Pat Bates, SFVAS Conservation Co-Chair 9/19/2025

The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection Zone Zero Committee meeting in Pasadena was well attended. Despite being a workday there was a turnout of over 100 people at the meeting  and 240 people were in the online queue, which they did not even get to  until 4:15, so most online attendees did not get to speak. Reporting back from the meeting, about 100 attendees (including Pat Bates on behalf of SFV Audubon)  were able to speak for 2 minutes each. The attendees included many victims of both the Altadena and Palisades Fires. The consensus was overwhelmingly in favor of completely revising the proposed Zone Zero requirementsand other ill-advised vegetation management practices. The speakers were also mostly in favor of letting our local authorities including Fire Departments have the say on local best practices. There are many points of agreement – home hardening and avoidance of having flammable materials adjacent to structures. There was also agreement that some vegetation is just too dangerous to be adjacent to residences – juniper, cypress, rosemary, etc. Wooden gates and fences are very dangerous. Palm trees in particular, are an extreme hazard in a fire, having the ability to fling burning fronds and chunks of flaming skin hundreds of feet.

Here’s probably the last chance to make your opinion heard by the Zone Zero Committee: