Wildfire Mitigation Contractors in Napa County, CA

Fire hazard zones

Napa County is largely hillside and wildland terrain, and much of it already sits in CAL FIRE’s Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, including areas burned in the 2020 Glass Fire and the 2020 LNU Lightning Complex. CAL FIRE’s 2025 statewide remap of Local Responsibility Area maps expanded High and Very High zones significantly; the Napa County Board of Supervisors is required to formally adopt the updated maps within 120 days of their release. Check your specific parcel on the Napa County 2025 Fire Hazard Severity Zone Maps page, which links to the county’s interactive zone lookup.

Local rules and deadlines

Beyond the state’s 100-foot defensible space standard (PRC 4291), Napa County has its own Fire Hazard Abatement Ordinance, Napa County Code Chapter 8.36, most recently amended in 2021 by Ordinance 1467. It defines defensible space as the 100-foot radius around a structure (or to the property line, whichever is less), requires new construction to maintain a 5-foot noncombustible “ember resistant zone” against the building, and can even hold a neighboring landowner responsible for clearing hazard vegetation within 100 feet of someone else’s structure. The county Fire Marshal’s Office enforces the ordinance and gives property owners 14 calendar days from an abatement order to clear cited hazards.

If you’re selling a home in a High or Very High zone, AB-38 real estate disclosure rules require a passed defensible space inspection dated within 6 months of the sales contract. The inspection is free — request it through the Fire Marshal’s Office — and a failed inspection triggers the same 14-day correction window, which can be shifted to the buyer if escrow closes first.

Free programs

The Napa County Fire Department’s curbside chipping program runs April through October for unincorporated-area residents (reservations open in March) at chipperday.com/napacounty. Piles up to 50 feet long, 3 feet high, and 10 feet wide are accepted at no cost, provided they’re cut brush and limbs (6 inches or less in diameter) from your own property, placed within 5 feet of the road.

For help paying for the work itself, Napa Communities Firewise Foundation’s Defensible Space Cost Share program reimburses eligible defensible-space and access-route work within 100 feet of a structure (150 feet on slopes) — up to $3,500, fully reimbursed for income-qualified households and 50% reimbursed for everyone else. The program currently prioritizes the greater Berryessa area (Estates, Highlands, Pines/West, Capell Valley) and is expanding countywide as CAL FIRE grant funding allows.

County resources

Napa Communities Firewise Foundation is the county’s Firewise-affiliated nonprofit, running the chipping and cost-share programs above and publishing defensible space planting guidance. For the official ordinance text, zone maps, and AB-38 inspection requests, go directly to Napa County’s Defensible Space page and the Fire Marshal’s Office at 707-299-1464.