How CalFire’s New Fire Maps are Impacting Insurance for Orange County Communities
Michael Berg, CMCA, CIRMS, Labarre/Oksnee Insurance
CalFire’s updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) maps redraw boundaries for identifi ed wildfi re risk areas. Communities within and adjacent to these new zone boundaries should prepare for changes in how insurance underwriters view exposure. In addition, how buildings are constructed and how vegetation is managed will be hot topics in the coming years.
What did the Map Revisions Do? CalFire’s latest FHSZ maps classify land as Moderate, High, or Very High fi re hazard using updated climate data, fi re history, topography, and wildfi re modeling. Orange County was included in the fi nal phase of map releases which began in early 2025.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors adopted CalFire’s Moderate, High, and Very High zones for unincorporated areas, meaning they are now a major factor for land-use and construction. The maps also created hazard “bands” around existing high-risk areas, so more communities at the boundary between open space and urban development are now classifi ed as Moderate or High instead of being outside of a mapped area.
Several cities that were previously less affected by wildfi re maps, such as Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Laguna Hills, and Placentia, now have identifi ed fi re hazard zones. In Anaheim, for example, about 300 acres of wildfi re exposed area were added to Anaheim Hills. The earlier maps discounted many communities built on hillsides and paid more attention to communities in canyon locations. Now, those hillside communities are being considered.
What Do the New Maps Mean for Communities? The FHSZ maps will primarily be used for city planning and construction of open space, but they also affect insurance carriers’ views and risk management. For communities now mapped in Moderate, High, or Very High zones, the insurer requirements and expectations will change.
Single-family homes in Very High zones are required to adhere to the State’s defensible-space regulations, which typically include managing vegetation within 250-feet of the structure where possible. Property owners must disclose to potential buyers that a property is in a designated hazard zone, which will affect lender reviews and potentially property values.
Owners with properties just outside of map boundaries should not assume that they are immune to carrier concerns. Today’s underwriting practices have insurers looking not only at the actual
10 July |August 2026
property location, but also surrounding topography, fuel sources, and predominant wind direction when evaluating whether a risk fi ts their appetite. That means a community that shares a boundary with a High or Very High zone may still be dealing with higher premiums, tighter underwriting guidelines, or limited carrier options.
Continued Insurance Challenges for Communities Insurance companies are not required to use CalFire maps. Historically, carriers have used other risk mapping tools,
like
CoreLogic or Verisk. The carrier cannot use these tools for determining premiums, but can use them to determine if they want to provide a quote. If carriers do implement the use of CalFire maps, it will likely make insurance placement harder and/ or more costly for impacted communities. In addition to the price of the policy, high deductibles and proactive risk mitigation may be required.
While many carriers use their own means of evaluating wildfi re exposure, the CalFire maps still serve as an important guide. If a community is now mapped into a Very High zone, it is likely that coverage and pricing will not change until the carrier reviews the account on renewal. Boards should fi nd out now if their community has been added to the high risk zones identifi ed by the new maps. That way they can plan for risk mitigation that a carrier might ultimately demand.
Well managed and proactive communities will benefi t from fi re hardening efforts. As carriers come back to the market (and they are starting to) they will prioritize the proactive communities over those that haven’t addressed exposure. In addition, carriers may actually start requiring communities to be fi re hardened per Safer From Wildfi re guidelines, or become Firewise community certifi ed to receive any consideration at all.
For Orange County communities, the message is not just that the map is more colorful. Rather, wildfi re mitigation measures will be necessary for future insurability. For a practical guide, review the Orange County Fire Authority Guidelines C-05 (https://www. fi
re.ca.gov/-/media/72c609c45ecd4530b3abaae8ab9be486. ashx). The new map can be found here:
https://osfm.fi re.ca.gov/ what-we-do/community-wildfire-preparedness-and-mitigation/ fi re-hazard-severity-zones
—Michael Berg is Vice President of Education for LaBarre/Oksnee Insurance. He can be reached at
mikeb@hoa-insurance.com.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
