South Lake Tahoe bans plants, furniture within 5 feet of homes for wildfire protection

As wildfire risks continue to impact fire-prone areas across California, the City of South Lake Tahoe is implementing new defensible space requirements for homeowners. South Lake Tahoe Fire Marshal Kim George said the city has never had a specific defensible space ordinance before, but they wanted to take action now to help keep people and their properties safe. “We’re requiring the Zone 0, the 0 to 5 feet of nothing combustible,” George said. For years, the rules statewide stated that all dead or dry vegetation within 100 feet of a home needed to be removed. But now, California fire officials are working to create new rules to ban any flammable brush or material within 5 feet of a home. The new regulations are mandated by state lawmakers after the legislature passed a law in 2020 requiring new defensible space standards in California’s most fire-prone areas.