If you are selling property within the Truckee Fire Protection District, chances are that you DO need a real estate inspection. Read more here.

• sellers must provide the buyer with a Truckee Fire inspection report confirming defensible space compliance

• the inspection must have taken place within the 6 months preceding the transaction date`

read more about the legal requirements here.

Truckee Fire (or within Tahoe Donner Association, Tahoe Donner Forestry)

The property owner is ultimately responsible for determining if they’re subject to AB38. Contact your title company, real estate professional, or C.A.R. for assistance.

All properties within the Truckee Fire Protection District are considered High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Read more here.

The law allows that if documentation demonstrating compliance cannot be obtained by the close of escrow, the seller and buyer can enter into a written agreement showing that the buyer agrees to obtain documentation of compliance within one year of the close of escrow.

• if that report can’t be obtained (either because the property isn’t compliant, or because it can’t be inspected), then the buyer can take responsibility for confirming defensible space within 1 year of the transaction date.

  • if the property isn’t compliant, best practice is to disclose to the buyer the current condition of the property

  • if the property hasn’t been inspected within 6 months preceding the transaction date, best practice is to disclose to the buyer the MOST RECENT condition of the property, whether or not it was compliant at that time.

read more here

Truckee Fire suspends defensible space inspections in the winter due to weather and staffing limitations. However, this doesn’t mean that you are stuck!

The law allows that if documentation demonstrating compliance cannot be obtained by the close of escrow, the seller and buyer can enter into a written agreement showing that the buyer agrees to obtain documentation of compliance within one year of the close of escrow.

• if that report can’t be obtained (either because the property isn’t compliant, or because it can’t be inspected), then the buyer can take responsibility for confirming defensible space within 1 year of the transaction date.

  • if the property isn’t compliant, best practice is to disclose to the buyer the current condition of the property

  • if the property hasn’t been inspected within 6 months preceding the transaction date, best practice is to disclose to the buyer the MOST RECENT condition of the property, whether or not it was compliant at that time.

read more here

HOAs’ inspections meet the requirements outlined in CC&Rs of that community, not necessarily of local ordinance and state law, which supersede the HOA CC&Rs. Therefore unless specifically authorized, the HOA inspection is NOT a substitute for Truckee Fire's inspection, which is conducted in accordance with state code and local ordinance.  It is common that properties pass their HOA inspection and are subsequently found to have outstanding violations during our review.

At this time, Tahoe Donner Association is the only HOA within the Truckee Fire Protection District authorized to conduct real estate defensible space inspections in Truckee Fire’s stead.

We understand that this can be confusing for owners. We are working collaboratively with all of our HOAs to streamline these processes and improve your experience.

At this time, Tahoe Donner Association is the only HOA within the Truckee Fire Protection District authorized to conduct real estate defensible space inspections in Truckee Fire’s stead.

Tahoe Donner Forestry

As long as you’ve requested your real estate inspection from Truckee Fire early in your sale process, there’s no reason that it should. The law allows you to disclose the noncompliant condition of your property so that the buyer takes responsibility for bringing it into compliance.

If you’ve had a recent defensible space inspection with Truckee Fire (within the last 6 months), you may already have what you need.

Construction and STR inspections within the last 6 months may also be used for real estate disclosure purposes.

Email us at dspace@truckeefire.org to see if it fulfills the requirements for the real estate disclosures.

The most CRUCIAL AREA of defensible space is also the most commonly overlooked.

• The best practice for Zone Zero is a “combustible-free” area extending at least 5 feet around the structure and attachments to the structure, such as privacy screens and decks.

• Relocate stored items that allow pine needles to accumulate.

• Consider anything that could catch fire: stored personal items or construction materials; dead vegetation; many types of live vegetation; unattached, temporary installations such as plywood, tree stumps, wood blocks, outdoor carpets; ground cover (pine needles, wood chips, bark, plywood, carpeting) whether intentional or naturally accumulated.

Click on other items below to see more details.

Within Zone Zero (0-5 feet from the structure), remove any ground cover material like pine needles, wood chips, bark, twigs and branches, whether intentionally installed or naturally accumulated. Isolated, small mounds of mulch around the base of low-fire-hazard plants, is acceptable.

There should be a “bubble” of approximately 10 feet around your roof and eaves. That means hanging over your roof, reaching toward your roofline, and definitely means no branches UNDER your eaves. Low-fire-hazard trees like aspen and dogwood have more leeway, but shouldn’t be touching the roof or structure anywhere, and should be clear of dead limbs.

Some plants just can’t be within 5 feet of a structure. These are examples and not an exhaustive list.

• native plants like manzanita, snowbrush / tobacco brush, bitterbrush, and sage

• small diameter pines and firs, that have most of their canopy within 5 feet of the structure and roof

• dense, woody plants like juniper, spruce shrubs, dwarf conifers, and mature lavender

Plants that CAN be within 5 feet of a structure still need to be maintained in such a way as to reduce the likelihood of transmitting fire to the structure:

• not directly in front of foundation vents or under eaves or overhanging structure features

• not heavily clustered under/in front of low windows

• free of dead branches, twigs, limbs, and pruned in an “open structure” such that it’s easy to clear of dead material from within and underneath the plants

Request a Real Estate Inspection

Access My Report

Defensible Space Contractor List

What Fire District Am I In?

CAL FIRE DSpace

CAL FIRE Self-Assessment

Firewise USA

Green Waste Disposal Options

TSBOR (Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors)

C.A.R. (California Association of Realtors)

C.A.R. Fire Hardening and Defensible Space Disclosure Form (Form FHDS)

C.A.R. Property Sale Defensible Space Guide

Truckee Fire/TSBOR/CAR WebinarTSBOR (Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors)

C.A.R. (California Association of Realtors)

C.A.R. Fire Hardening and Defensible Space Disclosure Form (Form FHDS)

C.A.R. Property Sale Defensible Space Guide

Truckee Fire/TSBOR/CAR Webinar

California Civil Code 1102.19 (aka AB38)

TFPD 02-2012 Defensible Space Ordinance

TFPD 01-2019 Point of Sale Requirement

Other Inspection Types:

Business

Construction

Short Term Rentals (STRs)

General DSpace