Protect Yourself From Wildfire Year-Round

Washington wildfires are starting earlier in the spring and burning later into the fall.  It’s important to have a plan for year-round wildfire protection.

The transition to cooler fall weather is the perfect time to assess your family’s wildfire risk and make a plan for next year. Abeyta Nelson Injury Law has represented hundreds of victims of wildfires, which can result in a devastating loss for people. While there is no 100% guard against losses from wildfires, there are things you can do to protect yourself, your family, and your property. Below are 8 ways to protect your home and your family, and reduce the likelihood of this terrible tragedy in the first place.

Adequately Insure Your Property

The most important step in wildfire prevention is to obtain adequate insurance on your property.  Insurance agents don’t always let their clients know exactly how much insurance they should have.  Most homes and other structures only have “fair market value” amounts of insurance on their property.  This means that if your home is a total loss, the structure itself will be valued and the insurance company will only pay that amount.  This almost never provides sufficient funds to rebuild your home or other structures like barns or garages.  When this  happens, our clients find themselves in a situation where their home and its contents are destroyed, but they do not have enough money to rebuild their home.

The best way to protect yourself is to obtain replacement cost insurance for your home and other structures.  You should ask your insurance agent to provide you a quote for replacement cost insurance on all the structures on your property.  This typically involves someone doing an assessment to determine how much it would actually cost to rebuild your home using the same quality materials used in the original construction.  The more insurance you can have on your property, the better off you are.

Adequately Insure Your Belongings

Just like structure loss, people often find themselves with insufficient funds to replace all of their personal belongings in their home.  Again, most insurance policies only cover the fair market value of belongings.  This is almost never sufficient to actually replace all of the belongings lost in a fire.  For example, if have a bicycle that you spent $1,000 on, its current value, after only a couple of years of use, might be only $300.  This is how much your insurance will pay you for your burned bicycle.  But, this will not be enough to replace your bicycle.

Like your home, replacement cost insurance is typically available for your personal belongings and contents of your home.  If you have lots of sports equipment or other expensive items in your home, such as artwork and furniture, also make certain that the dollar limit on contents on your insurance policy is adequate.  If you are worried it might not be, it probably isn’t.  Ask your insurance agent to increase the coverage for your contents to ensure you can replace everything lost in a wildfire.

Inventory and Document Your Belongings

One good way to document your belongings is to record on video everything in your home and keep that recording at some remote location so the recording is not burned in a wildfire. For example, if you have an extensive gun collection, it would be an excellent idea to get a video of each gun you have in your collection so that the insurance company doesn’t later question whether or not you actually owned that item. The video will also help you prepare a list that your insurance company will ask you to give them regarding what items you lost in the fire.  You may forget things if you do not have it recorded.

Protect Sentimental Property and Legal Documents

Many people have things like photo albums containing photos of their wedding, children, deceased relatives and more. These things are irreplaceable. Take photos of these items with your phone and keep them at a remote location so that you have some replacement in the event they are destroyed in a fire.  In addition to photos, consider obtaining duplicates of legal documents and again keep them at a remote location.

Create an Evacuation Plan

If you live in a wildfire prone area, you might only have a few minutes notice prior to a forced evacuation. Have a plan. Know exactly what items you need to take with you like computers and sentimental items that you cannot have duplicates of at a remote location.  Have a big case or bag in which to put them.  Also think ahead of time about how you will remove your pets or other animals from your property in the event of a wildfire.

Fireproof Your Home

Even though a wildfire doesn’t reach your property, your home may burn because embers from an approaching wildfire are often carried a mile or more to your property.  A fireproof or fire resistant roof may determine whether or not your home will survive.  Metal or tile roofs are the best.  Cedar shake roofs are the worst.  Consider replacing your roof with fireproof materials or talk with a contractor about applying fire resistant coatings to your roof.

Fires can also get into your home through vents and cracks.  Have metal mesh put over all the vents in your home, and make sure that all gaps are caulked or sealed.  You can also increase the fire resistance of your home by putting on siding which is fire resistant.  If you live in a fire prone area, metal siding might be appropriate.  Stucco or cement siding is also quite fire resistant.

Fireproof Your Landscaping

If you have a forest around your home, get it thinned to create space between trees so that wildfire doesn’t easily spread.  This also involves cutting the lower branches off trees so that a creeping fire does not easily advance up a tree.  Get brush removed from around your property.  If you have an adequate water supply, consider putting a green space around your home and keeping it watered.  Consider placing rock or cobblestones up to three feet on all the perimeters of your home. Try not to have trees too close or overhanging your home.

Arrange to Have Your Home «Foamed»

In the case of an oncoming fire, some home insurance companies provide an emergency service where they will hire contractors to foam your home to help protect it as the fire approaches your property.  You can also contact contractors and arrange this service directly.  The time to do this is well in advance of fire season.

Conclusion

There are more and more wildfires in the western United States.  There simply is no way to protect yourself 100% against potential devastation.  However, there are many steps you can take, such as getting adequate insurance, fireproofing your home, and creating a green space around your home which may protect your property or at least lessen your losses in the event of a wildfire.

-blog written by attorney Rodney K. Nelson