Communities are reducing wildfire risk. Will their insurance bills go down?

"The improvements aren't eye-catching: new gutters on the roof, gravel around the exterior walls and wire mesh covering attic openings. Still, those mundane items can make a world of difference in a wildfire. The goal is to make the homes less likely to burn in wildfires that are becoming increasingly destructive. Most structures ignite because of glowing, red embers carried by the wind."

"Making one house ember-resistant is good, but making a whole neighborhood resistant is dramatically better, since fires spread from house to house. It's part of a new program being piloted in California, one that many residents in fire-ravaged Lake County appreciate all too well. In the last 10 years, 70% of the county has burned, according to local officials. It was the wake-up call that led officials to begin a broad range of projects to reduce fire risk and make homes insurable."

In Kelseyville, residents install simple home upgrades — gutters, gravel, attic wire mesh — to reduce ember-driven wildfire ignitions. Most structure ignitions result from glowing red embers carried by wind, so making individual houses ember-resistant lowers risk. Retrofitting entire neighborhoods creates greater protection because fires often spread house-to-house. Lake County experienced roughly 70% of its area burning in the past decade, prompting broad projects to reduce fire risk and restore insurability. Insurance premiums and non-renewals are rising as companies confront costlier disasters. Homeowner retrofits can yield 5-10% discounts, but community-level efforts lack verified data for insurer recognition. A wildfire data commons is being developed to aggregate community projects.

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