You’ve seen the videos. Orange skies, embers flying like horizontal snow, and that distinct, terrifying roar of a Santa Ana windstorm. If you live in Southern California, or you’re thinking about moving to the 91302, the question "is Calabasas safe from fire" isn't just academic. It’s a matter of survival, insurance premiums, and peace of mind.
Honestly? No place in the Santa Monica Mountains is "safe" in the way a concrete bunker in the desert might be. But safety isn't a yes-or-no switch. It’s a sliding scale.
Calabasas sits right in the "Wildland-Urban Interface" (WUI). That’s a fancy term for where million-dollar Mediterranean villas meet flammable, oil-rich chaparral. After the January 2025 Los Angeles firestorms—specifically the Palisades and Eaton fires that destroyed over 12,000 structures—the conversation changed. It’s not about if a fire starts; it’s about whether your house is actually built to survive it.
The Reality of the Santa Monica Mountains
Living here means living with the wind. The Santa Anas are the real villain. When those dry gusts hit 60 to 100 mph, they don't just move fire; they create firestorms. In early 2025, we saw embers jumping firebreaks that were supposed to be "impenetrable."
Data from First Street and Risk Factor indicates that roughly 100% of properties in areas like Calabasas Hills have some level of wildfire risk over a 30-year window. That sounds terrifying, right? But here’s the nuance: most of that risk comes from ember cast, not a wall of flame.
Your house probably won't burn because a forest fire touched the walls. It’ll burn because a single glowing ember landed in a pile of dry leaves in your rain gutter. Or it got sucked into an attic vent. This is why "hardening" is the new buzzword around town.
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Why "Brush Clearance" is Different Now
If you haven't checked the city's latest ordinances, you might be in for a surprise. The rules got way stricter as of January 1, 2026.
The City of Calabasas and the L.A. County Fire Department aren't just looking for short grass anymore. They’re looking at the "Zero-to-Five Foot Zone." This is the "Ember-Resistant Zone." Basically, they don't want anything combustible within five feet of your home's foundation. No wood mulch. No woody shrubs. No wooden fences touching the siding.
The New Standard for 2026
- Zone 0 (0–5 feet): Non-combustible materials only. Think gravel, pavers, or bare dirt.
- Zone 1 (5–30 feet): The "Lean, Clean, and Green" zone. High-moisture plants only.
- Zone 2 (30–200 feet): Reduced fuel. Thinning out the native brush so fire can't climb into the canopy.
One big change for this year: you can't use metal cutting blades for brush clearance on Red Flag days anymore. People were accidentally starting fires while trying to prevent them. Talk about irony. Now, you’ve got to have a pressurized hose or fire extinguisher within 10 feet of anyone doing clearance work.
The Insurance Nightmare
Let's talk about the elephant in the room. Even if you feel safe, your insurance company might disagree.
Since 2019, one in five homes in California's high-risk zones has lost traditional coverage. Premiums have shot up by about 42% in some pockets of the Santa Monica Mountains. Many Calabasas residents are being forced onto the FAIR Plan—California’s "insurer of last resort." It’s expensive and the coverage is, frankly, pretty basic.
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Insurance companies are now using high-resolution LiDAR mapping—the same tech the state just deployed statewide in 2026—to look at individual rooftops and tree overhangs. If your neighbor hasn't cleared their brush, it might actually affect your ability to get a policy. We’re seeing a shift where community-wide compliance is becoming more important than just what you do on your own lot.
Is New Tech Making Us Safer?
There is some good news. We aren't just sitting ducks.
Governor Newsom recently announced that the state’s aerial firefighting fleet is now the largest in the world. We’ve got new C-130H airtankers stationed nearby that can drop massive amounts of retardant in a single pass. Plus, there’s the new 2026 Wildfire and Landscape Resilience Action Plan. This isn't just a thick binder on a shelf; it’s a strategy focused on "beneficial fire" (prescribed burns) and creating massive fuel breaks along the 101 corridor.
They’re even planting fire-resistant oaks to replace invasive, oily grasses. It turns out native oaks are actually great at buffering heat if they’re maintained properly.
Actionable Steps for Calabasas Residents
If you’re living here, "safety" is an active project, not a passive state. Here is what you actually need to do to make your property more resilient than the one next door:
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- Swap Your Vents: This is the #1 thing. Replace your standard attic and crawlspace vents with ember-resistant ones (like Vulcan or Brandguard). Standard mesh lets embers through; these new ones don't.
- The Five-Foot Rule: Take a weekend and clear everything flammable away from the house. If you have a wooden gate attached to your house, consider a metal break between the gate and the siding.
- Check Your Roof: A "Class A" fire-rated roof is the standard now. If you still have wood shakes, you're essentially living in a tinderbox.
- Know Your Exit: Don't just rely on your GPS. In the 2025 fires, traffic jams were a major problem. Have two different ways out of your neighborhood memorized.
- Digital Prep: Sign up for the "The Local" alerts and the ACES (Area Citizens Emergency Search) notifications. When the power goes out and the cell towers get congested, you need a plan that doesn't rely on a 5G signal.
Calabasas is a beautiful place to live, but it requires a "fire-first" mindset. The city is safer than it was ten years ago because of better building codes and more aggressive brush management, but the climate is also getting more aggressive. It's a bit of an arms race.
Stay vigilant, keep your defensible space clear, and don't ignore those Red Flag warnings. Safety here isn't guaranteed by the fire department; it's built by the homeowners who take the risk seriously before the smoke appears on the horizon.
Next Steps for Property Safety
To truly protect your home, you should schedule a free Defensible Space Inspection through the Los Angeles County Fire Department. They will send a specialist to your property to point out specific vulnerabilities—like a particular tree species or a vent gap—that you might have missed. Additionally, check the California FAIR Plan website to see if your current home hardening upgrades qualify you for any newly mandated premium discounts under the 2024-2026 insurance reform acts.