California · wildfire hazard
Wildfire risk score by address
California's official wildfire risk designation is CAL FIRE’s Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ)map, updated statewide for 2025–26. Every parcel in a State Responsibility Area (SRA), and increasingly in Local Responsibility Areas (LRA) too, is classified Moderate, High, or Very Highbased on fuel type, slope, weather, and fire history. If your address isn’t in a mapped zone at all, CAL FIRE hasn’t designated it as State or Local Responsibility hazard terrain — that doesn’t mean zero wildfire exposure, just that it falls outside the current SRA/LRA hazard mapping. Look up any address below.
Check your wildfire risk score
Enter a California address to see its CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zone, live from the state’s ArcGIS service, plus which insurers are likely to write it and the FAIR Plan + DIC fallback. Estimates, not quotes.
Check your address →Open the full-screen map ↗ · Estimates from public data — not a quote, offer, or insurance advice.
What your zone means for home insurance
Fire Hazard Severity Zone is one of the strongest signals underwriters use for California home insurance appetite. Moderate zones generally see the most admitted-carrier competition; High and especially Very High zones see more non-renewals and a much larger share of homes falling back to the California FAIR Plan, the state’s fire-only insurer of last resort. Statewide, the FAIR Plan covered 642,010 policies as of Sept. 30, 2025 (FY2025) at an average of $3,008/yr(fire-only, March 2026) — a sign of how much wildfire-exposed coverage has moved off the standard market.
Because the FAIR Plan is fire-only, most homeowners in higher-hazard zones pair it with a Difference in Conditions (DIC) policy to cover the rest of a normal homeowners policy. See typical costs by county on average home insurance cost in California and check your own county’s FAIR Plan penetration and filed premiums on the FAIR Plan hub.
Frequently asked
What is a wildfire risk score?
In California, the official government wildfire risk designation is CAL FIRE's Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) — a map classification of Moderate, High, or Very High fire hazard for a given parcel, based on fuel, terrain, weather, and fire history. It's not a single numeric "score" like a credit score; it's a zone tier set by state and local fire officials.
How do I check the wildfire risk score for an address?
Use the address checker above — it geocodes your address and queries CAL FIRE's Fire Hazard Severity Zone map (ArcGIS service) live, then shows whether the parcel falls in a State Responsibility Area (SRA) or Local Responsibility Area (LRA) hazard zone, and what that typically means for insurance availability and cost.
Is FHSZ the same as my insurer's wildfire score?
No. FHSZ is the public, regulatory zone map CAL FIRE maintains and that triggers state disclosure and building-code requirements. Most insurers also run their own proprietary parcel-level wildfire risk models (using vegetation, slope, defensible space, and more) to underwrite and price a specific home — those scores aren't public, and can differ from FHSZ for the same address.
Does a Very High zone mean I can't get insurance?
Not automatically. Many admitted carriers still write in Very High FHSZ zones depending on the specific carrier's appetite, the home's defensible space and construction, and the broader market conditions in that county. But Very High zones do see markedly higher non-renewal rates and a much larger share of policies landing on the FAIR Plan — see how that plays out by county below.
Next step
Check your exact address and see the FAIR Plan + DIC fallback. When you’re ready to shop, a licensed California broker can compare carriers for you. We provide estimates only — never quotes.
Check your address or find consumer help from the California Department of Insurance