This county's two defining wildfires were both set on purpose. You can't control ignition. You can control the first five feet. Zone Zero (officially "Zone 0") is the ember-resistant zone around your home. Here's where it applies across the largest county in America, which of its many fire authorities enforces it for you, and what your community's real fire story is.
The county's record
San Bernardino County's two defining fires were both deliberately set. The Old Fire of October 2003 was arson: 91,281 acres, 1,003 structures destroyed by CAL FIRE's official count, six lives lost, and the mountain hamlet of Cedar Glen stripped of 336 homes. The arsonist was convicted. Twenty-one years later, in September 2024, the Line Fire was arson too: 43,978 acres out of Highland's foothills, more than 36,000 structures threatened, and Running Springs and Arrowbear evacuated whole.
That pattern carries this county's hardest lesson: ignition is not in your control. Not when it's a dry-lightning storm, and certainly not when it's a match. What stayed in homeowners' control, in 2003 and 2024 and in the ember-driven losses at Lake Arrowhead in 2007, was the first five feet at each house. The full record is here; each community page carries only its own verified chapter.
The county map
The San Bernardino Mountains communities, where assistance programs lead the conversation and every page carries its own real history.
Where the cities meet the front country: real designations, real fire authorities, and no borrowed stories.
What must I do?
The rule is simple to state and hard to retrofit: nothing combustible in the first 5 feet from any structure. Combustible fences and gates touching the house, bark mulch against the foundation, woody shrubs under windows, firewood stacked on the deck (a mountain habit worth breaking before the deadline breaks it for you). The Grass Valley Fire proved the mechanism in this county's own backyard: most of the 174 homes lost near Lake Arrowhead ignited from embers or from house to house, not from the flame front. Read the full requirements, or start with the two most common projects: fences and gates and landscaping.
Who enforces it?
San Bernardino County splits fire authority half a dozen ways. The San Bernardino County Fire Protection District is the giant: it annexed the city of San Bernardino's fire department in 2016 and Crestline's district in 2015, and serves Lake Arrowhead, Wrightwood, and most unincorporated territory. CAL FIRE serves Highland and Yucaipa under contract. Running Springs fields its own department, Big Bear has the Big Bear Fire Department, and Redlands and Rancho Cucamonga self-operate. Your community's page names yours, because under Zone 0 the local authority sets your specifics.
Questions
If your parcel sits in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, yes. In this county that includes the mountain communities from Crestline to Big Bear and Wrightwood, the northern foothills of San Bernardino, Highland, and Rancho Cucamonga, and the canyon country around Yucaipa and Redlands. Check your specific parcel rather than assuming.
It varies more here than almost anywhere in California. The San Bernardino County Fire Protection District covers the city of San Bernardino (annexed in 2016), Crestline (annexed 2015), Lake Arrowhead, Wrightwood, and most unincorporated territory. Highland and Yucaipa are served by CAL FIRE under contract, Running Springs and Big Bear run their own departments, and Redlands and Rancho Cucamonga self-operate. Each community page on this site names yours.
Yes. The San Bernardino County Fire Protection District adopted Ordinance No. 4489 on June 10, 2025, designating the new Fire Hazard Severity Zones in its jurisdiction. Statewide mandatory Zone 0 deadlines for existing homes still follow the phased schedule expected to begin around 2027 to 2028.
A free assessment tells you exactly which Zone Zero requirements apply to your parcel, what your local fire authority will look for, and what to fix first. 100% free, no obligation.
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