Fire Maps: Riverside Identifies 'Very High' Hazard Zones

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection released a map highlighting the fire hazard severity zones in California, identifying southern Riverside as a “very high fire hazard severity zone (FHSZ).”

The city of Riverside included the map on their website where residents can input their address and visually see where their house is located in proximity to these FHSZ. 

Riverside Fire Chief Steve McKinster hopes the map helps residents better understand the wildfire risk tied to their home's location.

“More importantly, now more than ever before, these areas are going to be somewhat regulated and expectations are going to be educated to the residents so that they understand what defensible space is,” Chief Mckinster said. “And how to best mitigate fire within those zones as it relates to their residence.”  

The map placed a total of 3,626 square miles of property categorized by “high” to “very high” FHSZ spread across California, including the city of Riverside. The zone included 3.7 million people in flammable areas in danger of experiencing wildfires, according to Cal Matters.

Wildfires are a part of life in California, but their destructive impact has accelerated in Southern California in the last couple of years. Since 2011, areas categorized as “high” or “very high” FHSZ have increased by 168%.

In January 2025, Los Angeles experienced a wildfire that burned roughly 40,500 acres around the city, according to Forbes. In July 2024, a brush fire swept through 500 acres of property in the Hawarden Hills in Riverside, threatening 1,500 homes in the area.

After the devastation of the wildfires of Los Angeles, Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson swiftly communicated to the city the fire department will be putting extra importance into protecting Riverside from wildfires.

Mayor Lock Dawson said the city “strategically ramped up staffing levels, making sure we had the resources available to respond swiftly to any emergency to ensure fires did not spread in those conditions, we amplified our resource deployment by "flooding" fire threats with resources.”

The destruction of the LA fires also caused members of the city of Riverside to question the Riverside Transmission Reliability Project during a city council meeting in February, which will place 180-feet power lines above the Santa Ana River. Concerns were raised after theories pinned the cause of the LA fires on electrical towers.

During the meeting, Jason Hunter, a representative of Neighbors Better Together, suggested the city “go back to the drawing board on RTRP" and reconsider alternative paths for the lines. Despite public pushback, the city council approved the fire tech upgrade.

The Riverside Fire Department website complies with a statewide mandate requiring cities to provide fire zone maps and guidance to residents on how to prepare for wildfire risks.

Chief McKinster encourages residents of Riverside to visit the Riverside Fire Department website to find fire hazard severity zone information and resources on how to protect their homes from wildfire.

“..But it also reviews all the best standards and current practices and what is expected of residents that live in these [FHSZ] areas related to defensible space and vegetation management, removing vegetation away from home, our trash cans, fences,” Chief McKinster said.