Los Angeles • Highland Park
Highland Park Homeowners Face California’s New Zone Zero Deadline
Zone Zero Los Angeles / Highland Park
The Neighborhood
Zone Zero in Highland Park
Highland Park is one of Los Angeles's oldest neighborhoods, known for its concentration of Craftsman and Victorian homes on hillside streets rising from the Figueroa Street corridor toward Mount Washington.
The 2025-2026 CAL FIRE remap expanded Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone coverage into Highland Park's hillside streets, part of a broader Eastside Los Angeles expansion that also reached neighboring Eagle Rock along the York Boulevard and Figueroa Street corridor.
California's regulation targets the 0 to 5 foot ring around every structure, known as Zone Zero or Zone 0, requiring this ember-resistant zone to stay clear of combustible mulch, plants, and debris.
Who Enforces This
Los Angeles Fire Department
Los Angeles Fire Department enforces Zone Zero in Highland Park, as it does citywide. LAFD's Brush Clearance Unit's annual spring sweep now reaches further into Highland Park's hillside streets following the 2025-2026 statewide remap.
Local Fire History
Why Highland Park Takes This Seriously
Highland Park sits in the same Northeast Los Angeles hillside band that CAL FIRE's 2025 statewide remap classified as mostly Very High, alongside Eagle Rock and Mount Washington. The hillside streets climbing east from Figueroa Street toward Monterey Road and Mount Washington are where the exposure concentrates, in older homes with mature landscaping that wasn't built with ember-resistant clearance in mind.
Southwest Museum of the American Indian
Perched on a hilltop above the Arroyo Seco since 1914, the Southwest Museum sits directly in the hillside terrain that defines Highland Park's fire exposure. It's one of the neighborhood's oldest institutions and a clear landmark for where the hillside band begins.
Frequently Asked
Highland Park Zone Zero Questions
Which streets in Highland Park are most affected?
Generally the hillside streets east of Figueroa Street, climbing toward Monterey Road and the Mount Washington border, where older homes often have dense, mature landscaping close to the structure.
Is this connected to the Eagle Rock remap changes?
Yes. Highland Park and Eagle Rock sit in the same Eastside Los Angeles hillside corridor, and both were affected by the same 2025-2026 CAL FIRE statewide remap.
My house is older with a lot of mature landscaping. Does that matter?
It matters more, not less. Zone Zero specifically targets the plants, mulch, and debris within 5 feet of the structure, and older homes with decades of established landscaping often have more to clear than newer construction.
Get Your Highland Park Home Zone Zero Ready
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