Defensible Space Clearing in Seaside, CA

From Monterey Bay to the former Fort Ord: the land in Seaside

Seaside covers about 8.9 square miles of land between Monterey and Marina. The 2020 Census counted 32,366 people here. On the west, the city meets Monterey Bay, with dunes along the shore. Seaside and Monterey share Monterey State Beach.

To the east, the ground rises onto the former Fort Ord, an Army post from 1917 to 1994. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) describes that land as grasslands, maritime chaparral, oak woodlands and seasonal pools. Eucalyptus grows along Eucalyptus Road. Fort Ord National Monument sits next door, with more than 86 miles of trails.

The county's wildfire plan singles out the open Fort Ord land. It says that land may be the county's single greatest fuel and fire threat to homes at the wildland edge. In severe weather, the plan expects fire in Fort Ord's maritime chaparral to throw embers up to one mile.

The plan also lists the Fort Ord Escape fire of 2003 at about 1,500 acres. That fire burned in normal Monterey County weather. On a lot at that edge, the masticating head grinds brush and saplings into mulch where they stand. The oaks you want to keep stay standing.

What does Seaside's new Very High fire zone mean for your home?

CAL FIRE released new fire hazard maps for Monterey County on March 10, 2025. In Seaside, the new map shows about 437 acres in the Very High zone. The earlier map had no Very High land in the city. The same map puts about 742 acres in High and 299 in Moderate.

Much of the Very High land sits on the east side, toward the former Fort Ord. Next door, Marina and Sand City have no Very High land on the new map. State law gave the city 120 days to adopt the maps by ordinance, by July 8, 2025. The Seaside Fire Department explains the maps and that timeline on its fire prevention page.

For an occupied home in a Very High zone, state law calls for defensible space. Government Code 51182 sets it at 100 feet around the house, but not past the property line. The law puts heavier fuel reduction between 5 and 30 feet from the house. Farther out, CAL FIRE's guidance has annual grass trimmed to 4 inches or less.

Defensible space clearing around a Seaside home

The county's wildfire plan rates Seaside High for how easily its homes could catch fire, and High priority overall. Defensible space is the ground around a house that slows a fire and gives firefighters room to work.

On a Seaside lot, the dry grass gets cut low and the dead brush comes out. Brush and small trees under the oaks get thinned, so a fire has a harder time climbing into the canopy. We also clear around propane tanks and outbuildings. Larger trees and limbing are a tree service's work.

Inspection is the fire agency's job, and clearing to the standard is ours. If a notice or an insurance letter started this, we size the work to what it asks. We look at the property, or you send photos, and the quote comes in writing.

Vacant lots, HOA common areas and weed abatement in Seaside

We work all over town, from Del Monte Heights to the streets off Broadway Avenue and Fremont Boulevard. A vacant lot grows tall grass in spring, and by early summer it is dry. Brush also creeps along fence lines that face open land.

Weed abatement on a lot is brush mower work, with the grass cut low and left where it falls. Brush and saplings go through the masticating head and stay on the ground as mulch. If you got a notice about the lot, send us a photo of it. We plan the work around what it asks for and by when.

HOAs and apartment owners have common areas and perimeters to keep clear. Vegetation management puts that mowing and brush work on a seasonal schedule. The county plan lists a BLM fuel break along Eucalyptus Road. On a perimeter facing open land, a fuel break of mowed grass and masticated brush helps slow a fire.