"The rules ban all plants within a foot of the home and require the first five feet around homes to be free of combustible materials such as firewood, fallen leaves and branches, and mulch or wood chips. They also prohibit wooden sheds in the zone and wooden fences where attached to the house."

Sounds reasonable to me. Trees are big and can create tons of shade and still be 5 feet away from your home.

The new rule applies to Californians living in very high hazard fire zones designated by Cal Fire, applying to an estimated 2 million homes.

Source: https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2026-08-19/state-a...