Politics & Government
Cal Fire Seeks Over $150K In RivCo Brush Clearance Charges From 2025
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors will consider whether property owners in Hemet, Murrieta and Perris are responsible for the bill.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department has cleared weeds and potential fire hazards from four orchards and vineyards, and their bill was presented to the county Board of Supervisors.
The department is requesting that fire mitigation charges be added to the tax bills for work performed at the county's expense.
Owners, whose properties are located in unincorporated areas of Hemet, Murrieta, and Perris, are already considered delinquent, owing a total of $158,189 under the county's Fire Hazard Reduction Program.
Of the four, amounts owed by each range from a low of $20,393 to a high of $44,705, stemming from work fire department completed in the 2025 calendar year.
The fire chief has requested a hearing on July 14 to consider the assessments.
The reduction program involves deploying contractors to clear weeds and related overgrowth that might otherwise fuel brush fires during wildfire season, which generally spans May to November.
In most cases, the orchards and vineyards that were mitigated were deemed "abandoned or neglected" under county Ordinance No. 772, according to the fire department.
Officials said property owners were served with orders to abate, or mitigate, the potential hazards, and when inspectors received no reply or saw that no action had been taken, contractors were sent to the locations under county authority to clear away the excess foliage.
"The (ordinance) is designed to protect life, property and the environment by addressing hazardous conditions that increase fire risk and other public safety concerns," according to an agency statement posted to the board's agenda for Tuesday.
The actions geared to the orchards and vineyards are separate from fire hazard mitigation operations that targeted residential properties last year. A separate hearing on the fire department's request to recover those costs is set for June 23.
Agency documents stated property owners were billed to recover the county's expenditures, but the fire department received no response. A $254 administrative fee has also been folded into the final bill sent to the proprietors.
The charges would function as tax liens on the orchards and vineyards.
The owners who received assessment notices would have an opportunity to challenge them and ask the board for relief on July 14.
