Proxix Solutions Unveils Database for Assessing Risk in Urban/Wildland Areas

Proxix Solutions, a provider in developing GIS data, applications and Web services, announced the availability of FIREbreak, its first comprehensive tool for accurately assessing risk determination for urban/wildland areas.

Insurers reportedly have a growing concern with the increased losses due to brushfires, and since most brushfires usually start at the urban/wildland interface, the boundary between built-up areas and undeveloped, nonagricultural land with significant fuel loads, Proxix developed FIREbreak as a stand-alone product or to use in conjunction with its Brushfire/Fuel Rank product.

FIREbreak was created from a high-resolution grid covering 1/4 x 1/4 grid mile cells populated with the number of structures per cell. FIREbreak’s classifications enhance data for analyzing brushfire risk and do not rely on a simple urban/non-urban classification. FIREbreak identifies discrete residential clusters within the urban boundary and, when combined with Proxix’s Brushfire/Fuel Rank, spots clusters of housing adjacent to or near wildland areas and High and Very High brushfire risk areas.

To view a sample map, click http://proxix.com/Images/pr/Map2_grid_whiteinset.pdf .

“Firebreak offers insurers a tool to accurately identify areas with a very high probability of home loss claims from wildfires. Insurers using Proxix’s Brushfire/Fuel Rank database combined with FIREbreak to evaluate fire loss claims have found a strong correlation between a property’s distance from the urban/wildland boundary and Very High and High brushfire potential zones,” according to Howard Botts, Ph.D., Proxix’s director of Database Development.

Proxix Solutions also offers other hazard databases, including Mainland Determination and Distance to Water Feature, Earthquake, Hail, Mine and Mine Subsidence, Sinkholes, Tornado and Windpool, to help insurance underwriters make informed risk decisions.