The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CAL FIRE, has announced that they will not collect the annual Fire Prevention Fee this year from citizens whose homes were destroyed in last year’s wildfires.
After the fee was signed into law in 2011, homeowners with habitable structures in the 31 million acres protected by CAL FIRE have been assessed a fee each year, currently $153.33, for “fire prevention services”. Those services include strategic fuel reduction activities, defensible space inspections, fire prevention engineering, emergency evacuation planning, fire prevention education, fire hazard severity mapping, implementation of the State’s and local Fire Plans, and fire related law enforcement activities such as fire cause determination and arson investigation.
Officials have endeavored to remove addresses of homes known to have been destroyed by natural disasters since July 1, 2015. However, should homeowners still receive a bill, CAL FIRE has resources to assist them through the exemption process. The exemption form can be found at www.FirePreventionFee.org.
