Fire hazards increase in the South Bay, according to new map data released by CAL FIRE

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- While most of California is prone to wildfires, the South Bay is seeing a significant increase in hazardous areas compared to others.

This week, CAL FIRE released its latest update of "Fire Hazard Severity Zones" for the state.

On Thursday, the San Jose Fire Department let residents know they have the next 30 days to review these maps.

Seth Schalet, CEO of the FireSafe Council Santa Clara County explained why the maps are important.

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"Homeowner and residential expectations, and how the fire service agencies are going to engage the local residents, help educate them. Of course, frankly, it's really about education," Schalet said.

The last time this kind of zone map was released was back in 2011.

If residents want to see the updated areas, they can go to CAL FIRE's website. There is a slider tool that allows you to compare the old map to the new one. Changes are significant, because the updated maps include 'Moderate' and 'High' zones.

"We recommend at the FireSafe Council that everyone look at their maps, understand where they're situated," Schalet said.

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Out of all the Bay Area cities, San Jose saw the largest increase in acres zoned in "high" and "very high."

"If memory serves me well, 2009 they had about 3,000-plus acres in the very high zone now. They have almost 7,200 acres," Schalet said.

Just a short drive from San Jose is Cupertino, which saw high hazard zones significantly increase.

We spoke with Cupertino resident Suzette Pangarle.

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"It does impact us. We are now in that area that is now 'very high.' And so, we've actually been pretty concerned about it over the last couple of years, especially with the fires down in Southern California. We're still looking at ways to be able to fire safe our house as much as possible," Pangarle said.

A city can request to have zones upgraded but not downgraded.

Schalet just returned from a two-day conference in Marin, the spring California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force.

"The number one takeaway that I came away with--and many of the panelist said the same thing is--if not now, when? Right, because we've seen these fires before. None of this new. The LA Fire Department is well versed in fire reduction, and they have a long history with aircrafts. And if they couldn't control an ember storm, which this was, then we really need to take it upon ourselves to make sure we can do everything to maintain our safety and not just depend on the fire folks bailing us out," Schalet said.