RIVERSIDE, California (KCAL/KCBS) — The Riverside City Council passed an ordinance requiring 100 feet of defensible space around buildings in high-hazard fire zones.
The ordinance also requires more fire-resistant landscaping and coordination across property lines. City leaders passed the new rule following the state’s new fire hazard severity zone maps, which placed portions of the Hawarden neighborhood in the highest category. Last July’s Hawarden Fire burned 13 homes. It started after teens allegedly lit fireworks in the brush.
Cal Fire’s new hazard maps also required residents in very high zones, like Hawarden, to maintain the 100-foot defensible space clearance around homes and adjoining decks…