City audit finds brush inspections on private property missed violations, lacked oversight as wildfire risk grows

A city performance audit set for presentation to the San Diego City Council's Audit Committee on Thursday found that Fire-Rescue's brush management inspections on private property suffer from limited oversight, weak enforcement and minimal public reporting — leaving neighborhoods in very high fire hazard zones at greater risk as the region enters what forecasters call a potentially historic El Niño season.

The audit, published by the Office of the City Auditor in May and now heading to the committee chaired by Councilmember Vivian Moreno on Nov. 12, examined the Proactive Brush Management Program from August 2020 through September 2025. It found that each of the 45,101 parcels in the city's Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones was being inspected only once every eight to 10 years — far slower than the one- to three-year cycle that studies and best practices recommend.

Fire-Rescue switched tactics in early 2025, moving from on-site inspections to faster visual checks conducted from adjacent public spaces. While the new method accelerated the pace to a roughly two-year cycle, auditors found it came at a steep cost: each inspection under the visual-only approach was about 30 times less likely to identify a violation.

"A completed inspection count can rise while the program becomes less effective at detecting hazardous conditions," the audit warned. "Measuring only throughput would reward the faster process without showing whether dry vegetation and other violations were actually seen and corrected."

The audit also faulted the department for lacking productivity standards, noting that inspectors largely assigned their own cases with limited supervisory direction — sometimes skipping parcels while others were inspected multiple times. Staff reported to Civic Center Plaza each morning and were not expected to begin field inspections until 90 minutes into a shift.

Follow-up on violations was also found lacking. Outstanding violations did not always receive the reinspection and enforcement needed to confirm that hazards had been corrected.

Fire Chief Robert Logan agreed to implement all 14 of the audit's recommendations, which include establishing and enforcing productivity standards, completing follow-up inspections for outstanding violations, pursuing enforcement and issuing fines where appropriate, and improving program monitoring.

The audit presentation comes as the region prepares for a strong El Niño winter that could bring heavy rains followed by dense vegetation growth — the kind of fuel that has driven San Diego's most destructive wildfires.

The San Diego County Taxpayers Association highlighted the upcoming presentation on X on Monday, noting the audit "found that limited oversight and accountability, lack of follow-through and enforcement, and minimal public reporting have limited the program's effectiveness at reducing wildfire risk."

The Audit Committee meets at 9 a.m. Thursday in Council Chambers at the City Administration Building.