Very High Fire Hazard Severity Effective March 1, 1998, Agents and Sellers of real property in California are required to disclose to all potential buyers whether the subject property is in an officially mapped zone of Very High Fire Hazard Severity. A zone of Very High Fire Hazard Severity is DIFFERENT than a fire-response "State Responsibility Area" (SRA), which is also disclosable property condition. An SRA is a zone where the State is responsible for suppressing wildland fires using the California Department of Forestry (CDF) fire protection services. SRA's are generally rural with large areas of brushland, forest, etc. and generally don't include federal lands or incorporated cities. A zone of Very High Fire Hazard Severity, which may be in a local fire department's jurisdiction or the State's, is an area at significant risk for conflagration, typically due to a combination of dense vegetation, steep terrain and limited access to fire-suppression resources. This disclosure requirement was signed into law on October 6th, 1997, by Governor Pete Wilson. Based on California Assembly Bill 6X (called the "Torlakson Bill"), this new law outlines the specific procedures for existing natural hazard disclosures, and incorporates very high fire hazard severity as an additional mandatory disclosure zone for clarifying fire zone disclosures. A Standardized Natural Hazards Disclosure Statement form must now be completed with the appropriate information and signed by the Buyer and the Seller. PLEASE BE ADVISED: For California properties, the ABS Consulting's subsidiary, JCP Geologists, Inc. provides a Natural Hazard Disclosure ReportTM that is fully updated and revised to accommodate this new legislation! (See also new requirements for Dam-failure Inundation Zone disclosure and Seismic Hazard Mapping Act Zone disclosure.) | HOME | ABS CONSULTING | Questions, comments, or problems? ktravers@absconsulting.com Contents © 2001-2002, ABSG Consulting, Inc. All rights reserved.