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last updated on March 13, 2008

WILDFIRES

THE ISSUE IS.Finding solutions to help mitigate losses due to wildfires.

IT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE.Wildfire is one of the most destructive nature forces on the planet. While sometimes caused by lightning, people cause most wildfires. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), approximately 106,000 wildfires break out each year in the United States.

In 2007, over 85,000 wildfires burned more than nine million acres. The most destructive fires of 2007 occurred in Southern California during the fall. Brush and forest fires were exacerbated by the severe drought and strong Santa Ana winds, which destroyed homes across the region.

The substantial expense of fighting wildfires has exceeded the funds appropriated for wildfire suppression nearly every year since 1990. Wildfire costs go beyond suppression and are just the beginning of the financial impact. The costs also affect property losses, insurance costs, grazing impacts, business and recreation losses, utility costs, watershed impacts and wildlife habitat losses.

Wildfire experts conclude some reasons why wildfires occur more often now are attributed to: fuel in the form of leaves, branches and undergrowth; increasingly hot, dry weather in the U.S.; changing weather patterns across the country; and more homes built in areas called the wildland/urban interface.

More and more people are making their homes in woodland settings in or near forests, rural areas, or remote mountain sites where they can enjoy the beauty of the environment. However, homeowners face the very real danger of wildfires, which often begin unnoticed and spread quickly, igniting brush, trees, and homes.

New homeowners often do not understand the risks associated with their environment and do not take the appropriate steps to protect their homes from wildfires. Protective steps would include: constructing homes with fire resistant materials; positioning the home on the lot so as to avoid the possible spread of a fire; clearing a defensible perimeter of space around the home; installing smoke alarms; and the development of an evacuation plan in the event of a wildfire.

In response to the devastating 2007 wildfires in California, NAMIC President and CEO Charles M. Chamness, along with the American Insurance Association (AIA), Property/Casualty Insurers of America (PCI), and the Insurance Information Institute (III), briefed the Congress and media regarding the insurance industry's response after the fires. Chamness explained that the insurance industry continues to help reduce loss from fire by working to enact stronger statewide building codes, promoting better land-use strategies, educating the public on smart landscaping principles and the importance of building and retrofitting homes with non-flammable materials.

NAMIC will continue to work with Members of Congress like Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who, last Congress, introduced H.R. 3973, the National Forests Rehabilitation and Recovery Act of 2005. The legislation would have authorized the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to carry out a series of pilot projects to encourage collaborative approaches to, and to provide research on, the rehabilitation of forest ecosystem health following uncharacteristic disturbances (wildfires, insect infestation, or hurricanes) of forested Federal lands. These projects are to be conducted in a manner that protects wildlife habitat, water quality, and forest resiliency while also promoting social and economic opportunities in nearby communities.

NAMIC POSITION.NAMIC strongly supports the education of homeowners regarding the risks involved when locating to the wildland/urban interface and how to better protect their homes. With improved maintenance of the forests and woodlands, otherwise valueless wood, chips, brush, thinnings and slash could be removed in conjunction with projects on federal forests and rangelands, which would help reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire and insect infestation and disease.

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