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Bill adding ‘ember-resistant’ zone to homes heads to Gov. Newsom’s desk

The Governor will consider a bill requiring people in high wildfire-risk areas to keep 5 feet of space around their homes free of things that can easily catch fire.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A bill addressing wildfire safety is on its way to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. Assemblymember Laura Friedman's (D-Glendale) Assembly Bill 1516 would require a new ember-resistant zone within 5 feet of a structure in high-wildfire-risk areas.

"What’s right up against your house? Do you have a woodpile right up against the wall? Do you have a vine growing on the side of a house? Do you have a tree where the trunk is right up against your house?” Friedman explained to ABC10.

She said many homes in the deadly and destructive wildfires of 2017 and 2018 burned from the inside-out, ignited not by a wall of fire but by floating embers that ignited things within five feet of a house. This bill aims to help curb those kinds of spot fires.

“Having areas around a property that are not well maintained not only puts your own property and life at risk, but it puts entire neighborhoods at risk," Friedman said. "We want to give more guidance as to what you should be doing and what you shouldn't be doing."

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In order to help homeowners, communities and firefighting agencies implement the new requirements, the bill also "provides resources by making grants available through Cal Fire for at-risk communities and by developing a risk model for local governments to use in their own fire prevention planning," a news release on the bill's passage through the Senate and Assembly said.

The bill also allows Cal Fire to provide technical assistance to local governments. It requires the creation of a guidebook for property owners, to help them identify good and bad types of vegetation, in terms of wildfire safety. AB 1516 also requires Cal Fire to "devise a plan on how they can realistically inspect every property that lies within the State Responsibility Area at least once every three years," the release said.

Newsom has a month to sign into law this and other bills on his desk.

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