Fresno County Municipal Code Ch. 8.80 Defensible Space Requirements Along the San Joaquin River and Bluffs

The requirements of this section shall apply to parcels located within unincorporated territory of Fresno County located between Highway 99 and Highway 41 from the centerline of the San Joaquin River southerly to the Fresno city limits, and those parcels more particularly described by the following Fresno County Assessor's parcels numbers: 405-170-01, 405-170-06, 405-170-07, 405-170-24, 405-170-25, 405-170-26, 405-170-27, 405-170-28, 405-170-29, 405-170-30, 405-170-33, 405-170-34, 405-170-35, 405-170-36, 405-170-71, 405-170-72, 405-170-79, 405-170-80.

(Ord. No. 10-018, § 1, 9-14-2010)

For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

A. "Aerial Fuel" means all live and dead vegetation in the forest canopy or above surface fuels, including tree branches, twigs, cones, snags, moss and high brush. Examples of aerial fuel include trees and large bushes.

B. "Defensible Space" is the area within the perimeter of a parcel where basic wildfire protection practices are implemented, providing the key point of defense from an approaching wildfire or escaping structure fire. Defensible space can be created by removing dead vegetation, separating fuels, and pruning lower limbs.

C. "Firebreak" means an area of land within thirty (30) feet of an occupied dwelling and structure in which dangerous accumulation of flammable vegetation or other combustible growth has been removed and cleared away. The creation of a firebreak shall not require the removal of single specimens of trees or other vegetation that is well pruned and maintained so as to effectively manage fuels and not form a means of rapidly transmitting fire from other nearby vegetation to any dwelling or structure.

D. "Flammable and Combustible Vegetation" means any fuel.

E. "Fuel" means live or dead vegetative material which is combustible during normal summer weather. This does not include fences, decks, woodpiles, or trash.

F. "Horizontal Clearance" means the distance between aerial fuels, such as the outside edge of tree crowns or high brush. Horizontal clearance helps stop the spread of fire from one fuel to the next.

G. "Legally Authorized Fire Official", as used in this chapter, includes the district fire chiefs, California Division of Forestry officers, United States Forest Service and National Park Service Officers, and municipal fire chiefs.

H. "Surface Fuel" means loose surface litter on the soil surface, normally consisting of fallen leaves or needles, twigs, bark, cones and small branches that have not yet decayed enough to lose their identity; also grasses, forbs, low and medium shrubs, tree seedlings, heavier branches and downed logs.

I. "Vertical Clearance" means the distance between lower limbs of aerial fuels and the nearest surface fuels and grass or weeds. Vertical clearance helps prevent fire from moving from shorter fuels to taller fuels.

(Ord. No. 10-018, § 1, 9-14-2010)

Any person, corporation or other entity owning, leasing, occupying or directly controlling or having charge of any property subject to this article shall comply with the following standards for maintaining defensible space with respect to the area surrounding any inhabited dwellings and structures from April 15 through September 30 of each year as follows:

A. Maintain a firebreak by removing and clearing away dangerous accumulation of flammable vegetation and other combustible growth within thirty feet of each inhabited dwelling and structure.

B. No person shall be required to maintain any clearing on any land if that person does not have the legal right to maintain the clearing.

C. This section shall not apply to the following:

1. Habitat for endangered or threatened species, or any species that is a candidate for listing as an endangered or threatened species by the state or federal government;

2. Lands kept in a predominantly natural state as habitat for wildlife, plant, or animal communities;

3. Open space lands that are environmentally sensitive parklands;

4. Other lands having scenic values, as declared by the local agency or by state or federal law;

5. Cultivated agricultural land or land used for animal grazing;

6. Endangered, rare, or threatened plant species that are found within thirty feet of an inhabited dwelling and structure;

7. Single specimens of trees or other vegetation that are well spaced, well pruned, maintained in a live condition and create a condition that avoids the spread of fire to other vegetation or to a building or structure;

8. Grass four inches or shorter in height that is either:

(i) Necessary to prevent erosion; or

(ii) Isolated from other fuels.

(Ord. No. 10-018, § 1, 9-14-2010)

It is unlawful and a public nuisance for any person, corporation or other entity owning, leasing, occupying, directly controlling or having charge of any property subject to this article to maintain the following conditions on said property which endanger the public safety by creating a fire hazard:

A. Flammable and combustible vegetation located within thirty feet of an occupied dwelling and structure which prevents the creation of a firebreak and endangers public safety by creating a fire hazard; or

B. Flammable and combustible vegetation within ten feet of a propane tank.

C. Flammable and combustible vegetation located adjacent to any occupied dwelling or structure such that it endangers public safety by creating a fire hazard.

(Ord. No. 10-018, § 1, 9-14-2010)

The provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by the legally authorized fire official according to the procedures adopted by that official's agency or governing body.

(Ord. No. 10-018, § 1, 9-14-2010)