Save A Tree

Here’s How We Recommend Protecting Your Trees from Fire and Insurance Inspections

September 2025. By JT Wilkinson. Last month we discussed the easy-breezy care of trees planted at an adequate distance from structures. Here, I want to share some thoughts and tips about the kind of care the majority of trees in LA need and why – and how upcoming fire regulations might change standard practices. Let’s dive into it.

Throughout LA, homes and structures wrap around trees or sit under their canopies. We’re so accustomed to crowding their space, we fail to see how these assets suffer. We can abide giving them a rough life – for a bit. Until someone hears the pitter-patter of attic rats. Until a branch slumps through the roof. Until roots fill plumbing. Then most folks want to negotiate some sort of truce with their dear friends.

Negotiate a Cease-Fire

These situations are no excuse to top or pollard trees, that’s abuse! Some situations require more tree-care than trees care to receive. That may look like consistent year-over-year limbing up and structural pruning that takes as much as 15% of the tree canopy. If the trees were in the right place, we wouldn’t ask that kind of adaptation from them. At the same time, with consistency, we can generally prevent problems and keep the tree in good shape.

Know Where The Fight Is

You might expect fire agency expectations, old or new, to further complicate this care. Not really! Fire agency standards are usually in keeping with what is needed to keep trees and structures from fighting one another. Generally, fire departments want to see consistent maintenance of close-in trees to keep branches somewhere around 5-10 feet from roofs. All agencies want 10 feet of clearance from chimneys, even outside of fire hazard severity areas. They’ve long wanted branches limbed up too, so trees don’t touch siding or foundations. Of course, they advise clearing the tinder of leaf litter from roofs, gutters and around the base of homes.

But what about the new Zone 0 ordinance? Everyone is asking! Since the Assembly passed the requirement in 2020, we have built dozens of Zone 0s in fire prone communities from the foothills to the beach. We have yet to encounter a fire agency that asked for a tree’s removal. Some actually enforce protections for native trees. As of this writing, the most recent California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s rule plead (August) requires nothing new related to trees. While that may change, it isn’t the most proximate danger to our trees.

Share Your Perspective

We have had to negotiate a bit with insurance agencies that review properties via drone. From a bird’s eye view, it’s hard to tell if a canopy meets a 5 foot or 10 foot clearance standard from above. So far, photos from a ground-level perspective, arborist documentation, and conversations with agents have cleared up issues. With clear communication, homeowners clear inspections and hold onto insurance.

In many cases, it is actually a homeowners care beyond the trees that makes the difference. We find insurance agencies get more comfortable with trees when they see homeowners taking the myriad of other actions that improve wildfire-readiness.

How to Save a Tree

So, if you were to ask me how to save a beloved tree right now, I’d say don’t make assumptions. Don’t obey in advance. Do fix your behaviors and your home’s vulnerabilities first. Then look at the ground level in the 5 feet nearest your home – clean it out. Make sure you document the changes and communicate proactively with your insurance agent and fire department. We find alacrity and kind, proactive communication go along way.

If you do trim trees, schedule it during a time that works for them, use it to shore up tree health and structure. Make a year-over-year plan with a certified arborist to create an effective relationship between the tree and your home. When firefighters and insurance agencies are evaluating the risk they take in saving your home, you may just find you are miles ahead of their expectations. 

---