Brief

The Board of Fire Commissioners submitted a 2026 Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fire prevention initiative in November 2025. The Public Safety Committee approved it in January, and City Council adopted it unanimously (15-0) on February 3, 2026. The City Attorney has since submitted two legal documents (July and August 2026) that are under review by the Public Safety Committee, which continued the matter without a set return date in mid-September.

Full summary

The Board of Fire Commissioners introduced a framework for updating Los Angeles's wildland-urban interface fire standards to align with newly reorganized state law. The core legislative vehicle is a proposed ordinance that would create a new Los Angeles Wildland-Urban Interface Code (LAWUIC) by adding Article 7.1 to Chapter 5 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code. The LAWUIC would adopt the 2025 edition of the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code (CWUIC) and portions of the 2024 edition of the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC), while incorporating local modifications authorized by state law to address Southern California's specific climatic, geological, and topographical conditions. The CWUIC itself is a newly consolidated code: until 2025, California's wildland-urban interface fire requirements were scattered across the California Building Code, the California Fire Code, and the California Residential Code. In 2025, the state reorganized those provisions into a standalone code. Because the City must formally adopt the CWUIC to conduct enforcement activities in designated wildland-urban interface areas, the proposed LAWUIC is a legally necessary update rather than a discretionary policy choice. The Public Safety Committee approved the matter in January 2026, and the full City Council adopted it unanimously 15-0 on February 3, 2026, with the action becoming final on February 6. Following that adoption, the City Attorney's Office prepared a draft ordinance to implement the policy, transmitted in July 2026. A revised draft ordinance — replacing the July version — was transmitted by City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto on August 6, 2026. The August revision incorporates the same substantive framework but reflects refinements requested by the Council. Both drafts were referred to the Public Safety Committee for review. On September 15, 2026, the Public Safety Committee continued the matter to a date to be determined, meaning the revised ordinance has not yet been scheduled for a committee vote. Until the committee acts and the ordinance is formally enacted, the new wildfire building standards cannot be enforced under the updated local code. The file remains open and does not expire until September 2028.

Activity (12)

• 2026-09-15 Public Safety Committee continued item to date to be determined.
• 2026-08-07 City Attorney document(s) referred to Public Safety Committee.
• 2026-08-06 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated August 6, 2026.
• 2026-07-09 City Attorney document(s) referred to Public Safety Committee.
• 2026-07-09 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated July 8, 2026.
• 2026-02-06 Council action final.
• 2026-02-03 Council adopted item, subject to reconsideration, pursuant to Council Rule 51.
• 2026-01-30 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on February 3, 2026.
• 2026-01-14 Public Safety Committee approved item(s) .
• 2026-01-09 Public Safety Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on January 14, 2026.
• 2025-11-19 Board of Fire Commissioners document(s) referred to Public Safety Committee.
• 2025-11-18 Document submitted by Board of Fire Commissioners, dated November 18, 2025.

Documents (13)

• 2026-09-15 Communication(s) from Public · communication
• 2026-09-15 Speaker Card(s) · speaker_card
• 2026-08-25 Communication(s) from Public · communication
• 2026-08-06 Report from City Attorney · report
• 2026-08-06 Attachment to Report dated 8-06-26 - Revised Draft Ordinance · attachment
• 2026-07-08 Report from City Attorney · report
• 2026-07-08 Attachment to Report dated 7-08-26 - Draft Ordinance · attachment
• 2026-07-08 Attachment to Report dated 7-08-26 - Ordinance of Intention · attachment
• 2026-02-06 Council Action · council_action
• 2026-02-02 Communication(s) from Public · communication
• 2026-01-14 Report from Public Safety Committee · report
• 2025-12-08 Communication from Community Forest Advisory Committee · other
• 2025-11-18 Report from Board of Fire Commissioners · report

Council votes (1)

• 2026-02-03 Adopted — 15-0-0 · Regular