New Cal Fire maps show areas of wildfire hazard. What do they say about Sacramento County?
How susceptible is Sacramento County to wildfire? Residents can now check with new Cal Fire fire hazard severity zone maps released Monday to find out.
This latest batch of maps detail the severity of fire hazard by area. Hazards are rated moderate, high and very high depending on the factors that contribute to fire behavior: fire history, vegetation, weather and terrain, among others, according to the State Office of the Fire Marshal. Sacramento County is included in a four-part roll out that began in February.
Counties in the greater Sacramento region including El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, were part of earlier phases of the rollout in February.
Nearly 78,000 acres in Sacramento County are considered to be under some threat from wildfires, much of that in the county’s eastern unincorporated open lands, but also in cities including Rancho Cordova, Folsom and Elk Grove.
Cal Fire officials liken the maps to flood zone maps, which show the probability of an area being inundated by floodwaters, with the same goal: to keep home, family and property safe. California lawmakers mandated the maps in the early 1980s after destructive fires destroyed land, claimed lives and prompted strategies to mitigate wildfire risks.
The maps make residents in designated fire hazard severity zones aware of the natural hazards that surround their homes and communities. Residents can use the Office of the State Fire Marshal’s Ready for Wildfire web page to learn how to prepare for fire season; create and maintain defensible space and home hardening strategies; develop evacuation plans and plans for returning home after a wildfire.
The large majority of land in the county’s hazard zones sits on the open land of unincorporated Sacramento County where 60,265 acres are considered a “moderate” hazard for wildfire. Smaller yet still significant sections pose greater hazards, Cal Fire’s data shows. Some 2,166 acres are classified as a “high” hazard; while 1,267 acres are considered “very high” — a four-fold increase over the 367 acres so classified in 2011, according to Cal Fire.
In Rancho Cordova, 11,677 acres are classified as under moderate hazard; followed by Folsom at 5,293 acres; and Elk Grove with 554 acres and another 26 labeled a “high” hazard. Galt and Sacramento have 49 and 45 acres, respectively, listed as “high” hazard.
The hazard zones also cover Amador County and show the difference a decade or more have made in the foothill county. Communities such as Jackson, Plymouth and Sutter Creek where “very high” hazard levels did not exist in 2011, now see 2,000 acres or more each under one of the hazard designations, according to Cal Fire data.
Hazard mapping for several other counties were released Monday: Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura.
Residents can access the hazard maps on their tablet or cellphone and can enter their address to locate their property. The maps are located at bit.ly/cal-fire-2025-maps.
Users who have trouble accessing the map can call a Cal Fire hotline at 916-633-7655 or e-mail FHSZinformation@fire.ca.gov.
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 1:03 PM.
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