We took a little day-trip to visit relatives in Cameron Park this week, and it got me thinking about the debate around ‘Zone Zero’ – new regulations which will mandate wildfire mitigation (removal of flammable vegetation and materials) within 5 feet of homes in the most fire-prone areas of California.
We’ve got a short new video up on The Lookout related to this topic set in Cameron Park, in the foothills above Sacramento. During our visit, I got a chance to take a look at current wildfire hazards in a community I mapped thoroughly for wildfire hazards with my mentor, Barry Callenberger, back in 2005. This video talks about why details matter when it comes to picking landscaping plants, and why we think ‘Zone Zero’ is an important concept.
We’ll be talking a lot more about Zone Zero in 2026, I think.