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This Week's Fire Weather
Another genuinely calm stretch: no fire weather watches or warnings in effect for the East Bay interior as of Sunday, highs in the low 80s easing to the mid 70s, a southwest breeze, and cool nights in the mid 50s. Air quality is forecast in the Good range with no Spare the Air alerts. A quiet week like this is exactly when the 20-minute walk in this issue's tip pays off.
Sources: NWS forecast for Orinda · Spare the Air 5-day forecast
The First Five Feet Are Now State Policy
On Wednesday, August 19, the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection unanimously adopted first-in-the-nation "Zone 0" regulations: enforceable standards for the zero-to-five-foot ember-resistant zone around homes in the State Responsibility Area and in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones, categories that cover much of Lamorinda. If you have read our Zero-Foot Perimeter guide, none of the substance will surprise you. Embers, not walls of flame, ignite most homes lost in wildfires, and they do it in the material closest to the house.
The short version of the rules: a non-combustible strip immediately against the house and under the eaves, no firewood, bark mulch, wood chips, or dead vegetation anywhere in the five feet, buffers around windows, doors, vents, and decks, and maintenance standards for trees, fences, gates, and sheds. Lawns, low ground covers, and well-tended flower beds can stay, with conditions.
→ Our full breakdown: what the rules require, and what they mean for your home
Sources: Board of Forestry announcement (Aug. 19, 2026) · City of Lafayette Weekly Roundup (Aug. 21, 2026)
Regulatory Update: What Happens Next, and When
Adoption is not the finish line. The regulation now goes to the Office of Administrative Law for review, which includes a short public comment window, and takes effect after filing with the Secretary of State. From that effective date: new construction complies right away, existing homes get three years for Phase 1 (the housekeeping layer: combustibles out of the five feet, gutters clean, trees trimmed) and five years for Phase 2 (the construction layer: under-eave safety zone, non-combustible gates, shed and fence adjustments), with local jurisdictions setting Phase 2 timing. As of today, no Lamorinda homeowner is out of compliance with a state Zone 0 rule already in force.
Locally, MOFD's board will decide how the state standard is adopted or amended for Moraga and Orinda, and Lafayette homeowners fall under the same state rule wherever their parcel carries a qualifying zone designation. You can check your address on the state's hazard zone maps, and our full breakdown covers the local picture in detail.
Sources: Board of Forestry announcement · BOF Defensible Space Zones page
Community Bulletin
MOFD has an open board seat, and it could be yours. District Director John Jex is resigning effective August 30, and the MOFD board will fill the District 2 seat by appointment, with the term running through December 1, 2028. If you live in District 2, are a registered voter, and want a direct hand in the fire district's budget, prevention programs, and Zone Zero decisions, this is the most consequential volunteer role in local fire policy. Applications are due September 5 at 5:00 p.m., with interviews the evening of October 8. Questions go to Fire Chief Jeff Isaacs at (925) 258-4500. Full notice and application details → And if board service is more commitment than you're after, Strength in Numbers covers lighter-weight ways neighbors move the needle together.
Source: MOFD Notice of Vacancy (Aug. 21, 2026)
One Thing to Do This Week
Walk your first five feet. Phase 1 of the new Zone 0 rules is mostly housekeeping, and you can preview all of it in about 20 minutes. Walk the full perimeter of your house and note what sits within five feet of the walls: firewood, bark mulch, wood chips, dead or dying plants, doormats and cushions that could catch an ember, leaves in the gutters, anything stacked under the deck. You don't have to fix it all this week. The walk turns an abstract regulation into a short, specific list for your home, and most items on it cost nothing but an hour with a rake.
→ The Zero-Foot Perimeter: what to look for on the walk · How Zone 0 fits the full 0-1-2 system
Around the Bay: Lessons from Neighbors
The Eaton Fire's cause is now on the record. Earlier this month, the Los Angeles County Fire Department released investigative reports concluding, after an 18-month joint investigation with CAL FIRE, that the January 2025 fire that killed 19 people and destroyed or damaged more than 9,000 homes and businesses was caused by electrical arcing on an out-of-service Southern California Edison transmission tower. The sobering lesson for the rest of us: the ignition source was nothing any homeowner controlled. What you do control is whether your home can survive the embers that follow, and that work starts at your own walls. The county's release → For your own walls, start with the Home Hardening Checklist.
Source: County of Los Angeles release (Aug. 4, 2026)
Where to Start if You're New Here
The best first step is the Home Fire Readiness Score, a 10-minute self-assessment that tells you where your home stands and what to prioritize. After that:
- The Big Three: roof, vents, and defensible space: the highest-priority moves for a Lamorinda home
- Gold Protocol: what to do each week from now through October
- Evacuation Routes for Lamorinda: know your second and third ways out before you need them
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Lamorinda Ready is a community education resource. This newsletter is for general educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, insurance, financial, construction, or emergency response advice. The Zone 0 regulation was adopted by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection on August 19, 2026 but as of August 23, 2026 had not completed Office of Administrative Law review or been filed with the Secretary of State; requirements, phase-in dates, and local implementation by MOFD and ConFire may be refined in that process. Always consult qualified professionals and official agencies (MOFD, ConFire, your city) before making decisions about your home or property. Content available through links in this newsletter is subject to the same limitations.
Header photo: homes saved by defensible space after the 2009 Old Stage Fire near Boulder, Colorado, by Michael Rieger, FEMA, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Lamorinda Ready
Practical resilience for Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda.
1480 Moraga Rd Ste C #188, Moraga, CA 94556