Gov. Newsom signs SB 1297 along the PCH in Malibu on 9/27/2024 (Photo: gov.ca.gov)
Newsom’s New Executive Order to Harden Homes Against Wildfires ‘Too Little, Too Late?’
More people questioning Newsom’s dubious response to the wildfires
By Evan Symon, February 7, 2025 2:45 am
Fresh off his Wednesday visit in Washington with President Donald Trump and several members of Congress, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a new executive order Thursday aimed at hardening homes located in areas with high wildfire risk by implementing extreme new regulations including not allowing most flammable things allowed within 5 feet of buildings in such areas.
For the past month, Governor Newsom has been scrambling over wildfire issues in California. Initially seen as a positive force shortly after the Palisades and Eaton fires began in early January, Newsom has since received growing criticism and, thanks to his mismanagement of the fires and a lack of wildfire prevention efforts in recent years and during his terms as governor, is now seen as one of the primary sources of blame for the fires. He is currently facing yet another recall primarily because of his wildfire response, with polls showing only Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass being more unpopular over the fires.
However, Newsom has also gone to great lengths in the past few weeks to sign a slew of new orders and regulations aimed at wildfire relief and prevention. The need for federal funding has likewise caused Newsom to somewhat thaw his relationship with President Trump, with Newsom even meeting the President warmly upon his arrival at LAX a few weeks ago and having an unusually cordial meeting with the President in Washington on Wednesday.
Newsom’s political future is now widely seen to be tied with his response to the wildfire, with any more botching of the situation likely meaning an end for any Presidential aspirations in 2028. Not wanting to let up, Newsom announced on Thursday that he will sign a new executive order to harden communities from wind-propelled wildfires that turn into urban firestorms.
According to the order, Newsom will “direct the State Board of Forestry to advance implementation of regulations known as “Zone 0,” which will require an ember-resistant zone within 5 feet of structures located in the highest fire severity zone in the state’s Fire Hazard Severity Zone local maps and the State Responsibility Area, mitigating the risk of conflagration in urban areas like what occurred during the Palisades and Eaton firestorms. In addition, the Governor will direct the CAL FIRE – Office of the State Fire Marshal to release updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps, adding 1.4 million new acres of land into the two higher tiers of fire severity, which will update building and local planning requirements for these communities statewide.”
The order will essentially mean that nothing flammable can be put up within 5 feet of a house within these zones in order to remain ember resistant and reduce the chances that a fire will spread.
“The devastation in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena aren’t new lessons,” said Newsom on Thursday. “They are the latest lessons in urban firestorms that have devastated communities across the globe. To meet the needs of increasingly extreme weather, where decades-old buildings weren’t planned and designed for today’s realities, these proposals are part of a bigger state strategy to build wildfire and forest resilience from forest management, to huge investments in firefighting personnel and equipment, community hardening, and adopting state-of-the-art response technologies.”
Other state officials agreed with the new order on Thursday, with many saying that it has been a long time coming.
“These steps will spur proactive actions to defend the most vulnerable homes and eliminate combustible material within five feet of homes to reduce the risk of a home igniting in an ember-driven fire,” added California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot. “These are important steps to limit wildland fires from becoming big urban fires.”
Newsom is set to sign the new order once he returns from Washington later this week. However, detractors have said that this is Newsom’s latest “Too little, too late” measure and that he is now passing all of these new orders to make up for the past several years where he didn’t pass nearly as much wildfire mitigation laws as he should have.
“Hindsight is 20/20, but a lot of voters are having questions over why all of this wasn’t passed before the fires,” said LA County pollster Manny Rodriguez to the Globe on Thursday. “For the Zone 0 thing, many voters also don’t like being told they can’t plant things where they want on their own property. So that’s a lot of people going against him off the bat.
“People are questioning why these weren’t already in place more and more now though. It is good he is finally doing more about it all, but it is also highlighting just how behind the state was. He is facing a recall again for a reason.”
Continuing to fail to hold himself, Bass, the city, the state responsible for everything that has happened Newsom decides it is YOUR fault. It is because you have a pool toy or some shrubbery or whatever close to your house.. If it wasn’t for the ignorant peasants. I feel the author here can’t be serious suggesting that Newsom has ever been a positive force in this. His refrain here is exactly the kind of tone deaf response I would expect. How he keeps surviving politically is beyond me, but one thing about scum is that it tends to take a lot of scrubbing to get rid of it. No, Mr. Newsom people having decorative landscaping next to their homes didn’t make your wildfire management ineffective, it didn’t make the cities fire response incompetent. Hopefully more people than not can see through his idiocy, his ridiculous self serving “fact check” website (LMFAO here is a website where I paid someone to tell you I’m not a liar, it will also allow you to donate to me), his hollow platitudes, his attempts to push problems he created onto the people, and his smarmy narcissistic better than you BS. Garbage left laying around can cause wildfires. Don’t you think it is about time to take out the trash?
Yes! You are 100% right! I can’t wait for this fool to be out of office. We need to make sure that the rest of America knows he’s a useless politician who will never make anyone’s life better unless you are an illegal immigrant.
“No plants within five feet of your house” won’t help if you’ve cut personnel and budget for Cal Fire, the reservoir is empty, the hydrants are dry, 100 fire trucks are in the shop because you lack funds to repair them and you’ve funneled your fire budget to house illegals. How about the death penalty for arsonists? Why not build new reservoirs? Suspend environmental laws mandating water flow to the ocean rather than civilian use? Mandate new logging laws calling for clearing dead brush and fallen trees? And what about soaring insurance rates? Find a way to lower housing and rebuild costs, while knocking down regulations which impede the process. This is why people say Newsom’s new rule is “too little, too late.”
From a quick internet search, “…AB 3074, a bill approved in 2020 with unanimous bipartisan votes in the state legislature…requires the California State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to develop rules on what homeowners in high wildfire risk areas can keep in a 5-foot zone—also called “zone zero” adjacent to their homes…”
So this isn’t Newsom’s recent idea.
I wonder if residences in the high risk area will get inspected and if so by whom?
That’s the first thing I thought of, too, Garlicdude. Who exactly will be driving the streets looking for shrubbery scofflaws and issuing fines on the strength of this Newsom executive order? After all, unlike Newsom’s luxury $9.1 million Marin spread, most of us in Realville don’t have huge lots that are acres-upon-acres. So five feet away from the side of my house is actually smack in the middle of my neighbor’s driveway. And you just know, don’t you, that scum like Newsom issued this executive order with that in mind. That is, in hopes of making life more petty and nuisance-filled for the middle-class homeowner, not “hardening structures” from fire danger. Gawd, what a jerk he is
By the way, couldn’t help noticing how EXCELLENT the comments were on this.
Every last one of the comments NAILED IT.
A drone named Blanchisserie Française.
Farmers wanted me to schedule this type of inspection- $200-$250 thru someone affiliated with local fire department – so a new consulting business and revenue for what I assume would be a retired firefighter. I declined so I gave them a reason to cancel my fire policy. I wasn’t even in the zero zone. I suspect they’ll move everybody into the zero zone once they re-look at their maps. Once you sign up for these inspections, they have to continue every year at least as far as the insurance company was concerned.
You can’t regulate your way out of this problem. All this will do is make it even more difficult for home owners and those trying to build an new home. Typical Newsom – making it difficult for everyday citizens without actually solving any problem.
Bingo.
All part of their agenda
It also helps with their plan to get people to use a lot less water at their house.
Aversive Personality disorder.
Chronic, Sever.
The original sin was letting people build in fire prone areas in the first place.
There is nothing unusual about that area. The fire blew embers for miles, into neigborhoods. What he is suggesting to do would have made no difference in this situation.
With each passing day, Newsolini becomes more loathsome. He is a globalist WEF STOOGE!
It’s always someone else’s responsibility. It’s never Newsom’s responsibility. Newsom and the Democrats love to claim the fires are caused by “climate change”, even though scientists say they are not. Well, if the fires are caused by climate change, which you have been blaming it on for years, then why did you cut the Cal Fire budget by $101 million? Why didn’t you do the brush clearance in our forests you promised, and then lie about how much brush was cleared? Why did you ignore the State Auditor’s warning that power line maintenance wasn’t up to standards, and even the weak standards were not enforced?
Newsom is your typical incompetent Democrat. All talk, no action that protects and improve the lives of citizens.
Keep voting for Democrats. Maybe they can burn your house down next.
How about thinning out the brush and trees on public lands and filling the reservoirs with water, but that would require competent Democrat leadership which isn’t possible with Gov. “Hair-gel Hitler” Newsom and the criminal Democrat thug mafia that controls much of the state?
So it looks like Alex Jones’ predication that Governor Gavin “Hair-gel Hitler” Newsom would steal everyone’s property, as well as the federal aid money, and build a nightmare UN 15 minute smart city on its ashes has come true?
(https://x.com/RealAlexJones/status/1887666952598135227)
typical newsome, creating problems to solve problems. it amazes me this clown has the brains to breath
Just go between each set of quotations to find massive quantities of political gobbledygook. Somebody share with Emperor Nomex that “hardening” sounds good except the first day in a suppression course students learn what burns, anything. The whole premise of his earlier ridiculous defense was that the wind was so high, that nothing could have stopped these fires. Yeah, wind moves fire, okay but because something is hardened doesn’t mean it is not subject to the heat intensity. Let’s list materials in plain language which makes a structure less “vulnerable”… start with asbestos! Also, “Adopting” reservoirs full of water would go a long way. It is all relative mostly to oxygen, fuels and heat.
He/him/his should pay more attention to the comparitavely easier ways to reduce threats not associated with the fire triangle. The death penalty, that is a deterrent to be exercised for the crime of arson. Environmental merry tricksters would think twice, and maybe in smaller circles. Oh, I almost forgot, lock up officials who play politics with resources, which degrade the ability for firefighters to early and effectively respond to any fire.
A 5 foot clearance is purely a token. Perhaps there are meaningful rules in Newsom’s EO but I have not seen them.
No landscape feature is more ember resistant than a green lawn but for that you need water. Do you suppose that the California Psycho would endorse that?