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Wildfire defensible space and reducing vulnerability to damage or loss from wildfire. The most important policies and regulations related to residential wildfire safety in California are as follows:  General Plan Safety Element Review: Government Code 65302.5—The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection must provide recommendations to a local jurisdiction’s general plan safety element at the time that the general plan is being amended. Board recommendations include goals and policies that provide for contemporary fire-prevention standards for the jurisdiction. This is not a direct and binding fire- prevention requirement for individuals.  Sprinkler Systems: California Residential Code, Chapter 3, Section R313—All new dwellings, dwelling units, and one- and two-family townhomes must be equipped with an automatic fire-sprinkler system that can protect the entirety of the dwelling. Dwellings and homes constructed prior to January 1, 2011, that do not have a sprinkler system may be retrofitted, but it is not required.  Fire Safety Standards: California Public Resources Code 4290 and 14 California Code of Regulations (CCR) 1270—These regulations govern roads, driveway width, clearance, turnarounds, signing, and water related to fire safety throughout California. Public Resources Code 4290 is typically enacted through regulation at the county level, as described below.  Wildland-Urban Interface Building Standards: California Government Code 51189—The Office of the State Fire Marshal is required to create building standards for wildfire resistance. Construction of buildings in the wildland-urban interface must use fire-resistant materials to save life and property. As of 2011, the standards relevant to fire-safe construction for all new structures in the SRA are the California Building Code, Chapter 7A (for commercial construction) and the California Residential Code, Chapter 3, Section R327 (for residential construction).  State Responsibility Area: Public Resources Code 4102, 4125-4229 and 14 CCR 1220—These statutes and regulations establish the locations where CAL FIRE has the financial responsibility for preventing and suppressing fires. These designations define financial arrangements for fire protection services and establish the locations where fire safe and defensible space laws or regulations apply.  Hazardous Fire Areas: Public Resources Code 4251-4255 and 14 CCR 1200—These laws and regulations allow petitioners to the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection or CAL FIRE to establish hazardous fire areas, providing for area closures and other restrictions for fire prevention.  Defensible Vegetation Clearing Around Structures: Public Resources Code 4291/14 CCR 1299— Public Resources Code 4291 regulates fuel management around a property. It states that a person who owns or controls a building or structure in or adjoining to forest, brush, or grass covered lands shall follow certain guidelines outlined in the code. At least 100 feet of defensible space is required. The owner of the property is liable for making these changes to protect habitable structures. The 100 feet is separated into two zones, with the closer zone, 30 feet out from the structure, being managed more intensively. 16.1.3 Secondary Hazards Wildfires can generate a range of secondary effects, which in some cases may cause more widespread and prolonged damage than the fire itself. Fires can cause direct economic losses in the reduction of harvestable timber and indirect economic losses in reduced tourism. Wildfires cause the contamination of res ervoirs, destroy transmission lines and contribute to flooding. They strip slopes of vegetation, exposing them to greater amounts of runoff. This in turn can weaken soils and cause failures on slopes. Major landslides can occur several years after a wildfire. Most wildfires burn hot and for long durations that can bake soils, especially those high in clay content, thus increasing the imperviousness of the ground. This increases the runoff generated by storm events, thus increasing the chance of flooding. 16-3