It can make it harder to find insurance companies willing to insure. We are VHFHSZ adjacent since the canyon that the house across the street backs to is red on the map. We were initially denied insurance by AAA – until I argued that we were buying from a AAA policy holder (my father) and it was basically a continuation of coverage by the company. A virtual grandfathering.

It can definitely effect the permitting process for any additions or any other permited work. When we built our companion unit we had to go through full fire marshal review of our plans. I consider this a POSITIVE since the end product was much more fire hardened. The only thing the fire marshal changed was the way the roof vents were done and specifying the size of screens for the vents. Our 45 year old house would never pass the same review… so we’ve been incorporating what we’ve learned from the fire marshal review to reduce our fire risk. (Changing out soffets, etc to prevent airborne burning embers from getting in. Reducing exterior flammable materials.)