Two fires wrote this county's modern hazard map, and the 2025 remap more than doubled the parcels it covers. Zone Zero (officially "Zone 0") is the ember-resistant zone: the first 5 feet around your home. Here's where it applies, which of the county's two fire authorities enforces it for you, and what your community's real story is.
The county's record
Ventura County's hazard map isn't theoretical. It was written twice in seven years, in two different places, and this site keeps each story where it belongs.
19,904 acres. 243 structures destroyed, 127 damaged, at least 83 of those homes in Camarillo Heights. A rekindled brush-clearing fire, driven back to life by Santa Ana winds, put roughly 14,000 residents under evacuation notices within a day.
Camarillo's page carries this story.
281,893 acres across Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, the largest California wildfire on record at the time. 1,063 structures destroyed, more than 500 Ventura residences in a single night, agricultural losses over $171 million.
Ventura, Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore carry this one.
The harbor map
The county's newest anchor event, and the reason Camarillo's hillsides read differently now.
The communities the largest fire in then-state history hit hardest, from the coast to the Santa Clara River valley.
Unincorporated communities inside the valley's confirmed Very High zone, under the Ventura County Fire Department.
Eastern cities with real, current designations and significant 2025-remap footprints, each told without an invented fire story.
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 on the deck. The Thomas and Mountain fires were both ember-driven events; Zone 0 removes the fuel where embers land. Read the full requirements, or start with the two most common projects: fences and gates and landscaping.
Who enforces it?
Most of the county answers to the Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD): the contract cities of Camarillo, Ojai, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Santa Paula, plus the unincorporated communities including Meiners Oaks and Oak View. Fillmore is served by the county fire protection district's Station 27, the same VCFD family.
The City of Ventura is the exception: it runs its own independent Ventura City Fire Department and its own hazard-mapping process. If you're inside city limits, your requirements and schedule come from the city, not the county. Each community page names its authority. Enforcement under the April 2026 draft is education-first: inspections and correction notices before penalties.
Questions
If your parcel sits in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, yes. The 2025 remap put roughly 59,000 of Ventura County's 86,000 mapped parcels in Very High, a 108% increase over 2010, spanning the Ojai Valley, the Camarillo hills, the City of Ventura's hillsides, and the eastern cities. Check your specific parcel rather than assuming.
Two different authorities, and the difference matters. The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) serves the contract cities (Camarillo, Ojai, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Santa Paula) and unincorporated communities. The City of Ventura runs its own independent Ventura City Fire Department with its own hazard-mapping process.
Final state regulations are expected in late 2026. Existing homes get a phased runway, with Phase 1 estimated for 2027 to 2028 and Phase 2 set by your local authority, up to five years out. Two rules land immediately upon adoption: the combustible-fence restriction and requirements for new construction.
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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