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Wildfire

What You Should Know

About 100 million people now live in areas exposed to wildfire throughout the country, according to U.S. population statistics. Larger and more destructive wildfires increasingly are putting people and properties at risk. The cost of fighting these destructive fires continues to rise. Increasingly firefighters, stretched thin by large fires, are forced to choose which homes and businesses to save. Often these choices are based on which structures are most accessible and defendable.

Take control and minimize this risk by addressing three areas that could make your property more vulnerable to damage: the house or business itself, landscaping nearby, and the general vegetation in the area surrounding the structure. Each of these sources can be dealt with through maintenance, material and design improvements, and vegetation control.

What You Should Do

Understanding Regional Risks

Wildfire risks can vary from region to region. To help property owners better understand their risks, the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) developed the following guides. Each guide contains a property assessment form, including a cost estimate tool, which will help home and business owners assess their wildfire risk and prioritize necessary retrofit projects.

Find retrofit information customized for your area:

 
Central U.S.
(Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio)
Great Lakes
(Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin)
Mid-Atlantic/Northeast
(Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Vermont, Virginia)
Pacific Northwest
(Idaho, Northern California, Oregon, Washington)
Rocky Mountain
(Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming)
Southeast
(Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee)
Southwest
(Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas)