What Calabasas Fires Taught About the First Five Feet
Woolsey: the night the whole city left
The Woolsey Fire started on November 8, 2018, near the Santa Susana Field Laboratory site above Simi Valley. Driven by Santa Ana winds, it ran south, and in the early hours of November 9 it jumped the 101 freeway into the Santa Monica Mountains at the western edge of Calabasas.
What followed was the largest evacuation this community has ever seen. Orders expanded until the entire city of Calabasas was under mandatory evacuation, alongside Malibu, Hidden Hills, and Agoura Hills. Residents described embers arriving ahead of any visible flame, and homes in Calabasas neighborhoods were lost to ember-driven ignition, houses catching from the ground up while the fire front was still ridges away.
Across the two counties, Woolsey burned roughly 97,000 acres, destroyed more than 1,600 structures, and killed three people. It also burned most of the National Park Service land in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the open space that wraps Calabasas on its south and west, including parkland around King Gillette Ranch at Las Virgenes and Mulholland.
The Old Fire: a weekend warning shot
Two years before Woolsey, on June 4, 2016, a vehicle crash near Old Topanga Canyon Road sparked a fire in the hills above Calabasas. In hot early-summer conditions it grew to roughly 500 acres within hours.
About 5,000 people were forced from their homes across Calabasas and the Topanga area, some residents fighting spot fires with garden hoses before crews arrived. Homes were damaged, and containment took days. It was small by Woolsey standards. It did not feel small from a driveway on Mulholland Highway.
The longer arc includes the November 1993 Old Topanga Fire, which burned from these same mountains to the sea and remains one of the region's defining fire disasters. Same terrain, same winds, three different decades.
What this history teaches about the first five feet
Post-fire research keeps pointing to the same thing: embers, not just the flame front, ignite homes. Embers land in bark mulch, climb a wood fence, slip through a vent. Everything within 5 feet of the wall is either fuel or it is not.
That finding is why California directed the state to develop an ember-resistant zone (AB 3074). As of September 19, 2026 that statewide Zone 0 draft is Proposed — not in force, and we have not identified a local Zone 0 ordinance for Calabasas. The lesson still stands: clearing the first five feet is Recommended now, whatever rule eventually applies.
Did the Woolsey Fire actually burn inside Calabasas?
Yes. After crossing the 101 freeway in the early hours of November 9, 2018, the fire burned through the Santa Monica Mountains directly through and past Calabasas terrain, homes in Calabasas neighborhoods were lost to ember-driven ignition, and the entire city was placed under mandatory evacuation.
How big was the Woolsey Fire overall?
The Woolsey Fire burned roughly 97,000 acres across Los Angeles and Ventura counties in November 2018, destroyed more than 1,600 structures, killed three people, and forced evacuations of well over 200,000 residents. It burned the large majority of National Park Service land in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
What was the 2016 Calabasas fire?
On June 4, 2016, a fire sparked by a vehicle crash near Old Topanga Canyon Road burned roughly 500 acres in the hills above Calabasas, damaged homes, and forced about 5,000 people to evacuate over a weekend. It was contained within days, but it showed how fast fire moves from the canyons to the subdivisions.
Why does this history matter for the first 5 feet?
In wind-driven fires like these, embers can travel far ahead of the flame front and ignite mulch, fences, and stored items against the structure. Clearing that band is Recommended now, whether or not a Zone 0 rule applies to your parcel.
Is Zone 0 a statewide law in California?
No, not as of September 19, 2026. There is no statewide Zone 0 regulation in force in California. The Board of Forestry approved a final draft on August 19, 2026, but the state's own record lists OAL file 2026-0828-03E as withdrawn on September 8, 2026. AB 3074 directed the state to develop an ember-resistant zone; that direction is not a current statewide rule that homeowners must keep the first 5 feet clear. Existing defensible-space law (PRC §4291 and Government Code §51182) still applies, including keeping roofs and gutters clear of leaves and needles.
See what an ember would find
Send a request and the team will follow up by email about your first five feet.