Del Mar Fire Safe Council
Your Home
Del Mar’s homes, mature vegetation, slopes, canyons, and narrow streets create different wildfire risks from one neighborhood to another. Embers, vegetation near structures, and limited access can all affect how a property is exposed during a wildfire.
Use the sections below to understand your property and the steps you can take to reduce risk, improve defensible space, and make your home more resistant to wildfire.
Defensible Space
Defensible space is the area around a home where vegetation and other combustible materials are managed to reduce fire intensity.
 In Del Mar, closely spaced homes, slopes, canyons, mature vegetation, and limited setbacks make regular maintenance especially important.
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Reducing dead vegetation, breaking up ladder fuels, and maintaining clear access can help protect individual homes and the surrounding neighborhood.
California is moving toward new Zone 0 requirements for the first five feet around homes. This area is critical because wind-blown embers can ignite combustible materials next to a structure.
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On August 19, 2026, the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection approved the final draft of the Zone 0 regulations.
Guidance published in September 2026 explains Zone 0, including vegetation, fences and phased compliance deadlines.Â
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The regulations are not yet in effect, but homeowners can start reducing risk now by removing dead vegetation, moving firewood and other combustible materials away from the home, and reviewing combustible mulch, fencing, and items stored next to or beneath structures.
ZONE 0 - THE FIRST FIVE FEET
Zone 0 is the first five feet around a home or other structure.
Check Your Garage
Embers can enter garages through door gaps, vents or broken windows and ignite stored materials. Open carports leave those materials directly exposed.
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Check that the garage door closes fully, seal gaps around it, and reduce combustible clutter inside garages and carports.
Home Hardening
Embers can enter through vents, collect in gutters, and ignite roofs, decks, fences, and nearby materials. Small improvements can reduce these vulnerabilities.
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CAL FIRE offers home-hardening guidance and a self-assessment to help identify areas to improve.
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Del Mar requires wildfire flame- and ember-resistant vents for residential construction, remodels, additions, alterations and re-roofs. DMCC 10.04.150
Low vegetation, shrubs, and lower tree branches can create a continuous path that allows fire to climb into taller vegetation and tree canopies.
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Managing these ladder fuels is especially important on Del Mar’s slopes and where dense vegetation is close to homes and evacuation routes.
Ladder Fuels
Keep Access Clear
Vegetation along driveways and roads can affect evacuation, visibility, and emergency access. Del Mar’s Fire Code recognizes obstructed emergency access or egress as a fire hazard. DMCC 10.04.030
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Keep driveways and access routes clear
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Trim vegetation that narrows roads or blocks sightlines
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Maintain access for fire engines and emergency vehicles
This information is provided for general education.
Follow current City of Del Mar and CAL FIRE guidance and applicable fire and building codes for your property.