Three Myths about Wildfire Risk

Preparing your home for a wildfire starts with understanding, so today we'll bust three myths about wildfires. You'll also find useful resources you can use to help you reduce the risk a wildfire will damage or destroy your home.

Myth 1: My home will only catch on fire from flames burning right up to the structure

Fact: Research shows that embers — bits of airborne burning vegetation — are a primary cause of homes catching on fire.¹ Embers often travel far ahead of flames, as far as a mile or more, and can land near your home on combustible material and start a fire.

What counts as combustible? Some combustible items are easy to think of: piles of firewood or mulch bark, for example, or fallen leaves and pine needles. But did you know lawn furniture with foam cushions is combustible? If an ember lands on those cushions, it will burn and burn hot.

Embers can also enter your home through vents and open windows or doors and ignite. They will just as easily get inside a car through an open window and set the vehicle on fire.

A home burning amidst trees A single ember can grow into a spot fire and eventually
engulf a home or other structure.

Related:
Underwriting Property: A Guide to Fire, Wildfire, and Earthquake Risk

Myth 2: The fire department will be able to protect my home, even during a large wildfire

Fact: In many wildfires, most homes are protected and saved, but some wildfires grow so large with such intensity that the fire department may not have enough resources to protect every home.

Extremely large wildfires can outpace firefighting resources from multiple departments. In the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California, firefighters from around the state and other states, including Washington,² united to battle the blaze not just on the ground but from the air. Still, the fire claimed 85 lives and destroyed nearly 19,000 buildings.³

An important factor in determining if firefighters can and will protect your home during a wildfire is how well your home is prepared for one.

Myth 3: I only need to take steps to protect my home from wildfires once a year

Fact: Wildfire preparedness is not a once-and-done project; it’s an ongoing process. Maintaining your home and the space around it is just one part of that process. Also important are practicing your emergency response plans with your family and keeping your insurance policy updated in case you need to file a claim.

Womans hands hovering over a model home, protecting it Dispelling common misconceptions regarding wildfire can help you
better protect your home.

Related:
Fire Safety Tips for Consumers

How to protect your home from wildfires

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) publishes a suite of tools you can use to prepare your home for wildfires, including checklists and guides. Visit the NFPA’s Firewise USA website to learn more.

The NFPA also sponsors Wildfire Community Preparedness Day. The event is an opportunity for you to prepare your own home and help your neighbors. For example, you could remove dry leaves from around an elderly couple’s home or develop a community notification system so anyone can alert the community about a fire or evacuation.

Wildfire Community Preparedness Day is an ideal time to put in place practices you’ll follow throughout fire season to help protect your home, such as pruning the low-hanging branches on mature trees and cleaning leaves and pine needles from on and around your home.

Preparing your home for wildfire season may now be easier in Washington state

State regulations now allow insurance companies to provide consumers goods and services that can help mitigate property risks, including wildfire, theft, water leaks, and more. If you are a consumer, check with your agent to see how the regulations may benefit you.

If you are an agent, underwriter, or other insurance-industry professional, WSRB has produced a white paper for you about these new regulations, introduced in Washington State Substitute House Bill 2322. Click here to download the white paper.