California Insurance Commissioner, Ricardo Lara, unveiled a new set of statewide insurance standards on Monday aimed at both fireproofing older homes against wildfire risk and keeping wildfire insurance affordable and available for homeowners. We'll dig into the affordability and availability of insurance next week. For now, let's learn about the new protections, prosposed in a set of three, to help keep older homes safe from wildfire.
1. Structure Protection
Californians will be responsible for having a Class-A fire resistant roof, a five foot ember resistant area around the home, six inches at the bottom of exterior walls being non-combustible, having ember and fire-resistant vents, having upgraded windows such as double panes or added shutters and enclosed eaves.
2. Immediate Surroundings Protection
Standards on clearing all vegetation and debris from under decks, removing all combustible sheds and other outbuildings or moving all at least 30 feet away from homes, and defensible space compliance, such as cutting trees and removing debris and brush from the yard.
3. Community Standards
Coordination with local fire districts to come up with the best evacuation routes, community clearing of brush and overgrowth, submitting local planning documents on wildfire plans, and coming up with funding sources to help meet the new standards.
These new standards, also known as “Safer from Wildfires,” are designed to greatly reduce the risk of wildfires and wildfire spread, especially in older homes that meet fewer of the current wildfire mitigation standards. With older homes meeting the new standards, Commissioner Lara says that not only will wildfire risk be greatly reduced, but skyrocketing insurance costs would be tempered.
While California has only had wildfire-resistant building standards in place since 2008, a drastic increase in wildfires and a low number of older homes not being made wildfire-resistant, as well as a number of destructive and devastating wildfires in recent years, have caused insurance premiums to skyrocket and some insurance companies to end insurance agreements. Since coming into office in 2019, Lara has made it one of his priorities to both improve fireproofing standards and halt insurance companies from dropping fire insurance policies.
Adapted from original article by California Globe. See the article in its natural habitat here.