HFTD — High Fire-Threat District
Also known as: Fire Threat MapTier 2Tier 3CPUC fire mapfire zone
HFTD is the CPUC-adopted designation for areas in California with elevated wildfire risk based on fuel, weather, terrain, and ignition history. It combines Tier 2 (elevated) and Tier 3 (extreme) areas on the CPUC Fire-Threat Map with Tier 1 High Hazard Zones from the U.S. Forest Service–CAL FIRE tree-mortality map, and it exists to scope utility fire-safety rules. PSPS shutoffs are most common in and near Tier 2 and Tier 3, but PG&E can shut off any customer whose power line passes through a high fire-threat area. HFTD is not the map behind California's wildfire building rules: those (the Wildland-Urban Interface Code, formerly CBC Chapter 7A) follow CAL FIRE's Fire Hazard Severity Zones.
In Santa Cruz County, HFTD Tier 2 and Tier 3 cover much of the mountains: Felton, Ben Lomond, Boulder Creek, Brookdale, Bonny Doon, the upper Westside SC, Davenport coastal terraces, parts of Aptos hills, Corralitos, Day Valley, and the Soquel-Aptos mountain corridor. Coastal flats, Watsonville, Capitola, and downtown SC are generally outside HFTD.
HFTD is a good first read on (a) how likely PSPS shutoffs are where you live — though PG&E can also cut power to homes outside it when the line that feeds them runs through a high fire-threat area — (b) often whether your insurance is affected, and (c) the case for backup power. It does not decide which wildfire building rules apply to your home; that's CAL FIRE's Fire Hazard Severity Zone map.
If your home is in HFTD Tier 2 or 3 and doesn't have a backup power plan, that's worth addressing. Whether the answer is battery, generator, or just a portable + manual transfer switch depends on your situation. We walk through it without pushing a specific product.
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