How to Pass L.A.'s Brush Clearance Inspection and Skip the Fees

Clear the 200 feet around your house before inspectors arrive and it costs nothing. Fail twice and the fees start at $789.

If you own property in Los Angeles's Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, a fire inspector checks your yard every year, and you don't have to ask.

If you pass, it costs nothing. Fail the first inspection and the Los Angeles Fire Department charges $31. Fail the second and it's $789, according to the department's 2026 notice to owners. After that, a city-hired contractor clears the land, and the bill grows by a $1,740 administrative fee plus the contractor's price.

This year's round is over. Inspections started May 1 and were scheduled to run through June 30, and bills started going out in August. Pay by the date printed on yours, because the department adds a 200% penalty to late payments. Parcels hit by the Palisades fire may be exempt from the $31 fee, but if they fail they still get a notice listing what needs fixing.

The rules don't stop when inspection season ends. The department calls clearance a year-round job and warns that some owners may need to clear more than once a year. Here's the order to do it in.

1. Find out if you're in the zone. Look up your address on CAL FIRE's statewide severity zone map. The city's ZIMAS map and the county assessor's map show where your property lines run.
2. Sign up for FIMS. Register at fims.lafd.org with the APN and PIN printed next to your name on the department's yearly mailer. Your account shows whether you passed and, if you didn't, photos of the problem. If you used the old VMS3 system last year, you have to register again. Questions go to the Brush Clearance Unit at (800) 994-4444, according to the 2026 notice to owners, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays, or lafdbrush@lacity.org. The department's main brush page lists 1-800-944-4444 for brush clearance inspections.
3. Measure 200 feet. The city's requirements cover plants within 200 feet of any building, including a neighbor's. They also cover 10 feet on either side of a driveway, a road or a fence that can burn. Inside that line, grass gets cut to 3 inches, and native brush gets cut down to 3 inches too.
4. Trim the trees and shrubs. Native shrubs standing at least 18 feet apart can stay if you clear their bottom third and pull out the dead growth. On any tree over 18 feet, cut the low branches until the lowest leaves hang 6 feet up or higher. Shorter trees and shrubs lose their bottom third. Keep branches 10 feet from the top of a chimney and 5 feet above the roof, and keep leaves and needles from piling up on the roof.
5. Get rid of what you cut. Haul it away legally, or chip it and spread it back no deeper than 3 inches within 30 feet of the house. Farther out, the limit is 6 inches, and no chips go within 10 feet of a road. Los Angeles Sanitation picks up extra yard trimmings for free once a year; call (800) 773-2489 to book it.
6. Clear without starting a fire. The department says well-meaning residents clearing brush have started small fires. So the city bans clearing on red flag days and allows only metal blades that don't spark, which means nothing made of iron or steel. Have water ready no more than 10 feet from where you're cutting: an approved extinguisher, or a garden hose that's turned on, with a nozzle fitted. Keep a charged phone that can dial 911 close by, and don't do anything else while you're cutting. If you can't do the work yourself, FIMS links to a list of brush clearance vendors.
7. Don't call for an inspection. The department's computer keeps track of every parcel that's due and sends the inspector. If you're registered, the failure notice comes by email. Otherwise it comes by mail.
8. If you fail, you have 20 days. The second inspection is scheduled automatically after that, so don't call then either. Fail it and a red card goes up on the property, warning that a city contractor will start in 10 to 15 days or more. Contractors may come by to price the job. The lowest bidder usually gets about two weeks to finish.
9. If you think the bill is wrong, appeal. Owners whose land the city cleared get mail about appeal hearings. The Board of Fire Commissioners picks an independent officer to run them. The case then goes back to the board and on to the City Council, which can drop a charge if it agrees with the owner. Billing questions go to LAFD.brushacctg@lacity.org.

An unpaid bill doesn't go away. The department sends unpaid invoices to Los Angeles County, and they show up on your property tax bill as a special assessment.

Source: lafd.org, retrieved November 4, 2026. Other sources: lafd.org (2), lafd.org (3), lafd.org (4).