California fire officials are updating a statewide fire hazard severity zone map, looking at everything from an area's fire history to the amount of flammable fuel and its terrain and weather in determining how prone an area is to fire.

As part of the update, fire officials will hold a public hearing in Ventura on July 2.

The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors hearing room at the Ventura County Government Center, 800 S. Victoria Ave.

The map, introduced in the mid-1980s, must be updated by January, when new state building codes go into effect, said June Iljana, spokeswoman for the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The state is required by law to produce maps identifying areas that face moderate, high and very high fire hazards. The state is involved because it has financial responsibility for wildland fire protection in the areas, Iljana said.

The map is especially useful for structures that are built next to wildlands.

The maps are used to determine legal requirements affecting property owners, including construction standards.

"Fire hazard severity zones influence how people construct buildings and protect their property,", state Fire Marshal Kate Dargan said.

The proposed updates to the map are based on how fire officials believe a fire will behave in a given area. Factors such as an area's fire history, the amount of flammable fuel, terrain, weather, and how the wind carries embers during a fire are considered in determining the fire hazard for an area, Iljana said.

State fire officials are giving wind-carried embers special consideration because of some very destructive fires, including the 1991 Oakland firestorm and the 2003 fires in Southern California.

In both cases, embers set buildings and homes on fire, Iljana said. New fire safety rules require that many structures built in fire danger zones have double-paned windows to protect them from embers.

In addition to Ventura, state fire officials are holding public hearings in 55 other counties.

The hearings will include an overview of how the maps were developed. The maps will be on display at the hearings.

The public can comment on the maps at the hearing or by mail or e-mail after the hearing.

The comments will be reviewed and answered before adoption of a final map, Iljana said.

To view the proposed map for Ventura County, go to http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/webdata/maps/ventura/fhsz_map.56.pdf.