A record 2018 wildfire season in California, with signals suggesting more of the same to come, is driving insurers to seek better risk assessment tools.
Verisk's ISO business has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, Inc. (FLASH), a nonprofit organization that works to strengthen homes and safeguard families from natural and man-made disasters.
Property destruction from the November 2018 Camp and Woolsey Fires in California shows a strong correlation with areas identified as at risk by FireLine®, Verisk’s wildfire risk management tool.
It’s important for insurers to understand advances in fire science and how they assess a community’s adaptation to evolving challenges in fire protection.
ISO’s Community Hazard Mitigation works closely with fire departments and communities through our Public Protection Classification (PPC®) program, which develops classification of community fire suppression capabilities on a scale of 1 (exemplary) to 10. Many Insurers use PPC ratings as a measure of the risk of fire losses in a community, an important item to consider when determining premiums for property insurance.
Wildfires in California surpassed 215,000 acres burned as of November 12, destroying thousands of structures, forcing mass evacuations, and reportedly causing 43 fatalities.
When wildfires hit populated areas, flames may not be the only cause of insured loss. Beyond the perimeter of a fire, smoke and ash can damage properties that don’t actually ignite during a wildfire.
Wildfires continue to burn near the Wyoming/Colorado border, and the largest, most destructive ones—the Roosevelt, Marten Creek, and Ryan fires—are at various stages of containment.
Recent record-breaking, destructive California wildfire seasons highlighted insurance issues that drove the introduction of over 17 bills during the 2017–2018 state legislative session.
Insurers measuring the level of protection in a community need to know which station responds first to every address, who and what are inside those stations, where the firefighters get their water, and a host of other data points.
Fire protection in the United States didn’t grow up overnight. It arose and evolved piece by piece, and to this day, fire protection is changing in large and small ways. Any measure of its effectiveness requires trust from the fire service that the evaluators are fair and knowledgeable—and trust takes time to build.
FireLine, Verisk’s wildfire risk management tool, is guiding analysis of risk factors seen within the Carr Fire’s perimeter. FireLine categorized more than 99 percent of the fire area as at risk, with more than 90 percent at high or extreme risk.