Local Responsibility Map (LRA)

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) released an updated Local Responsibility Area (LRA) Fire Hazard Severity Map on February 24, 2025, identifying areas in the Stinson Beach Fire Protection District now categorized as Moderate, High, and Very High Fire Hazard Zones. LRA maps help communities understand wildfire risk and informs future building and safety regulations.

The SRA and FRA polygons shown have been trimmed to include only private parcels within the Stinson Beach area. For complete and official State Responsibility Area (SRA) and Federal Responsibility Area (FRA) boundaries, please refer to the CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) map website.

What Does This Mean for the Stinson Beach Fire District?

The Stinson Beach Fire District has reviewed CalFire’s draft map and created a local version for adoption. While the district cannot downgrade the severity zones identified by CalFire, jurisdictions, and agencies can upgrade severity classifications based on local conditions and risk assessments.

As part of this process:

  • Public Review: The district has 30 days from the release date to share the draft map for public review and comment. The map was made available on March 24, 2025. 

  • Public Comment Online: The district has provided the community with the ability to submit public comments online by emailing info@stinsonbeachfire.org with the subject line: "LRA Map Public Comment."

  • Public comment Mail: The public can also submit comments by mail to the district as follows: Stinson Beach Fire Protection District, PO Box 127, Stinson Beach, CA 94970

  • Public Comment Deadine: The public comment period shall end end of day April 28, 2025.

  • Ordinance Adoption: The district must adopt a finalized map and ordinance within 120 days of receiving the map. The Public hearing for adoption is scheduled for May 26th, 2025

  • Submission to CalFire: After adoption, the District has 30 days to submit the ordinance to CalFire.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are there new maps?

1. Government code 51178 requires the state to identify moderate and high severity zones in addition to very high.

2. Previous LRA maps only contained moderate.

What are the requirements for the fire district?

1. Government code 51178.5 requires local agencies to make the information available for public review and comment.

2. Public comments can be submitted with the staff report to your governing body at the time of ordinance adoption.

3. Government code 51179 requires the local agency to designate, by ordinance, moderate, high, and very high zones within 120 days.

What can the fire district do for these new maps?

1. Government code 51179 does not allow local agencies to decrease the level of fire hazard severity zone or to remove areas from the recommended map.

2. Government code 51179 does allow a local agency to include additional areas not identified by the state fire marshal. The fire protection district is not adding any areas to the maps.

3. The comment period is specifically for comment and the comments cannot be used to decrease or remove areas from the recommended map.