Brush clearance compliance
That inspection notice has a deadline. Make it someone else's problem.
Brush clearance for Los Angeles homeowners: LAFD and LA County Fire defensible space inspections, coordinated clearance crews, and the documentation that closes your case. Pasadena, Altadena, La Cañada, Malibu, and across LA.
Or call (213) 262-8710 with the notice in hand
Three programs, one confused homeowner
Every spring, fire departments across LA County inspect hundreds of thousands of parcels in high fire hazard zones for brush clearance, the mandatory wildfire fuel reduction around homes. The letters look similar, but the program behind them depends on where you live, and so do the deadlines, the fees, and what happens if you ignore them.
Here is who runs what, with the current numbers, so you know exactly which clock you are on.
Which program sent your notice?
City of LA (LAFD)
Who: Parcels in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone inside the City of Los Angeles
When: Inspections begin May 1
Fees and enforcement: Pass the first inspection and there is no fee. Fail and you are billed a $31 inspection fee. Fail the second inspection and a $758 non-compliance fee is added, and late payments carry a 200 percent penalty.
Cases are tracked in LAFD's FIMS portal (FIMS.lafd.org), which is also where you check your parcel's status.
LA County Fire
Who: Unincorporated areas and the many cities LA County Fire serves, including Altadena and La Cañada Flintridge
When: Inspections begin around April 1 in desert areas, May 1 inland, and June 1 on the coast
Fees and enforcement: Parcels declared hazardous are billed a $151 inspection fee on the property tax bill whether you clear the land yourself or not. Violations get an Official Inspection Report with a compliance deadline. If the County ends up forcing abatement, administrative enforcement adds $1,647 on top of the contractor's bill.
Questions and reinspection requests go through the County's defensible space inspection program.
Pasadena and other city departments
Who: Cities with their own fire departments, like Pasadena, run their own programs
When: Notices go out each spring; Pasadena Fire alone sends thousands of inspection notices a year
Fees and enforcement: Each city sets its own inspection timeline, fee schedule, and enforcement process, so read your notice carefully. The clearance standards are similar across all of them.
Your notice names the issuing department and its contact.
Figures from the 2026 LAFD owner notification and LA County Fire defensible space program notices. Check your own notice for the numbers that apply to your parcel.
What inspectors actually look for
The standards are specific, and most failed inspections come down to a handful of items.
- Grass and weeds cut to 3 inches, maintained out to 200 feet from structures in the City of LA and out to 100 feet under most other LA programs
- 10 feet of clearance along roadways, driveways, and combustible fences
- Trees taller than 18 feet limbed up so foliage starts at least 6 feet off the ground; smaller trees limbed to a third of their height
- No branches within 10 feet of a chimney outlet, and 5 feet of vertical clearance above roof surfaces
- Dead and dying material removed from trees and shrubs, not just the ground
- Cut vegetation actually hauled away. A pile of dry cuttings next to the house is its own violation
From notice to cleared, on your deadline
Send us the notice
Photo or forward the letter. We read which program issued it, what the violations are, and when your deadline lands.
We scope it fast
A walkthrough within days, scoped against the exact items your inspector checks, with a flat quote before you commit.
Vetted crews do the work
Licensed, insured local clearance crews that RF1 vets and supervises, under one contract with RF1, scheduled to beat your deadline.
Documentation that closes the case
Before and after photos, a record of what was cleared, and help reporting compliance to the issuing department.
Clear once, then stop getting notices
Annual clearance is the floor, not the goal. The homes that stop failing inspections are the ones that convert panic clearance into maintained defensible space: zoned planting, hardscape where it counts, and a yard that passes in April without a scramble in May.
And California's new Zone 0 rules will eventually add a stricter standard for the first 5 feet around the house. If crews are already on your property for clearance, handling Zone 0 prep in the same visit is the cheap way to get ahead of it.
Common questions
I got an LAFD brush clearance notice. What do I do first?
Check your parcel's status in LAFD's FIMS portal at FIMS.lafd.org and note the deadline on the notice. Clearing before the first inspection means no fee at all. If you have already failed one inspection, the clock matters even more, because a second failure adds a $758 non-compliance fee. RF1 can scope the work within days and schedule crews around your deadline.
What is the difference between the LAFD and LA County programs?
LAFD covers parcels inside the City of Los Angeles and bills a $31 inspection fee only if you fail, with a $758 non-compliance fee after a second failed inspection. LA County Fire covers unincorporated areas and contract cities, and bills a $151 inspection fee on the property tax bill for every parcel declared hazardous, even if you do the clearance yourself. Cities with their own departments, like Pasadena, run separate programs. Your notice tells you which one you are dealing with.
What does brush clearance cost in Los Angeles?
It depends on lot size, slope, how overgrown the parcel is, and how much green waste has to be hauled. RF1 quotes a flat price after a walkthrough, before you commit. For context on the other side of the ledger: failing twice in the City of LA costs $789 in fees, and a forced County abatement adds $1,647 in administrative costs on top of a contractor bill you did not get to negotiate.
Can I get an extension or appeal the notice?
Both LAFD and LA County have processes for disputes, and your notice lists the contact. In practice, the fastest and cheapest path is usually clearing the listed violations before the reinspection date. If the timeline is genuinely impossible, call the number on your notice early, not after the deadline passes.
Does brush clearance satisfy the new Zone 0 rules?
No. Brush clearance is fuel reduction out to 100 or 200 feet, enforced by your fire department every year. Zone 0 is California's new ember-resistant standard for the first 5 feet around the house, approved in August 2026 but not yet in effect. They overlap but are not the same checklist. If crews are already on your property for clearance, extending the scope to Zone 0 prep in the same visit is usually the cheapest way to get both done.
Does RF1 do the cutting itself?
RF1 is a coordinator, not a landscaping crew. We scope the work against your notice, bring in licensed and insured local crews we vet and supervise, hold the schedule to your deadline, and handle the documentation. You get one contract and one point of contact instead of three bids and a pile of photos to organize.
Brush clearance coordination across LA's fire hazard zones
RF1 coordinates wildfire hardening for homes from Pasadena and Altadena through the foothills, canyons, and coast to Santa Barbara. See how we work in your area:
- Altadena
- Pasadena
- La Cañada Flintridge
- Sierra Madre
- Malibu
- Topanga
- Pacific Palisades
- Brentwood
- Bel Air
- Calabasas
- Montecito
- Agoura Hills
- Thousand Oaks
- Santa Barbara
- Ojai
- Carpinteria
- La Crescenta
- Burbank Hills
- Hollywood Hills
Looking for hands-on defensible space help? Defensible space contractor for Los Angeles or browse all assessment areas.
Holding a notice with a deadline on it?
Send it over today. We will scope the work this week.