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Calif. DOI partners with CAL FIRE to prevent fire losses

A helicopter moves in close to wildfire flames to make a water drop over the Del Dios neighborhood of Escondido, Calif. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy).

Just days before massive wildfires broke out through Southern California, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner joined CAL FIRE Director Ruben Grijalva in signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to help prevent and mitigate fire losses in the Golden State. According to both agencies, the state faces an abnormally dry fall fire season. The MOU will create a partnership and commitment to protecting against future fire losses.

California is in the midst of a dangerous fire season due to a confluence of factors. Increased fuel, abnormally dry weather, greater urban interface and Santa Ana winds have created a particularly combustible mix for the 2007 fire season. Each year, hundreds of thousands of acres burn due to wildfires. Thousands of homes, businesses and other structures are damaged or destroyed every year, averaging more than $200 million in annual property damage. Preliminary estimates of October’s Southern California fires indicate there will be about $1.5 billion in insured losses, with about 500,000 acres burned.

Both groups pledged to mutually promote awareness and collaboration among fire officials, the insurance industry and the public to prevent and mitigate fire losses. As part of the MOU, they will:

• Launch a public awareness campaign. CDI and CAL FIRE will develop an outreach program for residents and businesses located in the wildland-urban interface, and collaborate with additional fire mitigation groups like the California Fire Safe Council.

• Explore fire mitigation insurer educational programs. CDI and CAL FIRE will work toward developing a one-day educational course for insurance policy makers, underwriters and property inspectors to teach effective mitigation strategies. The course would be offered to all personal and commercial lines property insurers writing policies in California.

• Create a statewide emergency services database to merge the already defined and mapped hazardous areas with the risks associated with those areas after mitigation efforts have been performed.

• Reevaluate inspection procedures of the California FAIR Plan Association to ensure current procedures are appropriate for determining the risk of an individual property. CDI and CAL FIRE will work to provide training and certification of the FAIR Plan inspection bureau staff to encourage consistent and fair application of inspection criteria.

• Develop strategies to share fire activity information and databases before, during and after wildfires to streamline efforts for faster deployment of agency resources to fire-ravaged communities.

• Increase incentives for homeowners, businesses and insurance companies to actively prevent and mitigate fire risks.

The MOU can be found at www.insurance.ca.gov.

For detailed coverage on the Southern California wildfires and their effects on insurers and agents, see pages N4 and 78-86 of this issue.

Topics California Wildfire