California FHSZ Maps: 2024 SRA and 2025 LRA

California’s State Responsibility Area fire hazard severity zone maps took effect on April 1, 2024. The Office of the State Fire Marshal then released Local Responsibility Area recommendations in four phases during February and March 2025. Use the effective state map for an SRA location. For an LRA location, check the State Fire Marshal recommendation and the applicable local ordinance, adopted map, or other official local designation record. Do not substitute the SRA map for missing LRA information.

The 2024 SRA maps are effective classifications

The Office of the State Fire Marshal completed the current SRA mapping at the end of 2023, and the data took effect on April 1, 2024. The maps classify areas as Moderate, High, or Very High fire hazard severity zones.

For an SRA screen, retain the Office of the State Fire Marshal FHSZ source, the April 1, 2024 effective date, the date you checked it, and the project’s relationship to the mapped area. The map supplies a hazard classification. It does not answer the remaining project questions in Appendix G.

The 2025 LRA maps are phased recommendations

The State Fire Marshal released LRA recommendations in four phases:

Phase	Release date
1	February 10, 2025
2	February 24, 2025
3	March 10, 2025
4	March 24, 2025

A release date identifies the state recommendation available to a jurisdiction. It is not the date of a local ordinance and does not, by itself, show what the local agency adopted. Record the applicable phase and then verify the local record.

Local agencies designate LRA zones

Government Code section 51179 directs a local agency to designate Moderate, High, and Very High fire hazard severity zones by ordinance within 120 days after receiving the State Fire Marshal’s recommendations under section 51178. The statute also allows specified local changes and does not allow the local agency to decrease a severity level recommended by the State Fire Marshal.

For an LRA project, retain both sides of the record:

the State Fire Marshal recommendation and its release date; and
the local ordinance, adopted map, or other official local source that shows the designation and adoption status.

Read the current statute and local record for the dates and requirements that apply. A recommendation, ordinance, and adopted map are related records, but they are not interchangeable.

State layers may not show the adopted local answer

The State Fire Marshal’s materials provide the statewide recommendation record and direct users to the relevant local jurisdiction for a specific LRA area. A state-hosted layer therefore may not be enough to establish the locally designated zone for a project.

Treat that as a source gap to resolve, not as evidence that a jurisdiction failed to act. Local publication practices vary, and one city or county’s map cannot establish how another jurisdiction publishes its designations. If the applicable local source has not been verified, record local designation not verified or not determinable from the queried sources and identify the local agency record still needed.

Hazard and risk are different

A fire hazard severity zone describes physical conditions that affect the likelihood and expected behavior of fire over a 30- to 50-year period. The classification does not account for every change that can reduce potential damage.

Wildfire risk concerns potential damage under existing conditions. It can reflect measures such as fuel reduction, defensible space, and ignition-resistant construction. A Very High hazard classification can remain Very High even where risk-reduction measures are present. Keep the mapped hazard fact separate from the project’s risk analysis.

Appendix G requires project facts too

The Appendix G wildfire section applies if a project is located in or near an SRA or land classified as a Very High fire hazard severity zone. It asks about:

adopted emergency response and evacuation plans;
project features, slope, prevailing winds, and other factors that could exacerbate wildfire risks;
associated infrastructure that may exacerbate fire risk or cause other effects; and
post-fire runoff, slope instability, drainage changes, flooding, or landslides.

A map can support the location and hazard-classification record. It does not establish what “near” means for the project, how the project relates to an evacuation plan, whether its design changes wildfire risk, or how post-fire conditions should be analyzed.

Record the source before drafting

For each project, record:

Record item	What to retain
Responsibility area	SRA, LRA, or not determinable from the cited sources.
State source	Exact map or recommendation, effective or release date, and date checked.
Local source for LRA	Jurisdiction, ordinance or adopted map, adoption status, and date checked.
Project relationship	Project footprint and its relationship to the mapped or designated area.
Open review	Any unresolved local coverage, “near” question, evacuation-plan issue, project-design fact, infrastructure issue, or post-fire condition.

This record establishes what source was checked and what it reported. The practitioner still evaluates the project facts and documents the applicable Appendix G analysis.

Official sources

Office of the State Fire Marshal, Fire Hazard Severity Zones: SRA data effective April 1, 2024, LRA recommendation releases in four phases from February 10 through March 24, 2025, and the agency’s hazard-and-risk distinction.
California Legislature, Government Code section 51179: local designation by ordinance, timing, and limits on changes to recommended severity levels.
California Natural Resources Agency, 2018 CEQA Guidelines Appendix G: the Wildfire XX location scope and project questions.

Published 2026-09-10 · Last materially reviewed 2026-09-10