Most Western U.S. homeowners are uncertain of wildfire risk
While most Western U.S. homeowners worry about wildfires, more than half have never discussed the risk with their insurance provider.
Despite most homeowners in Western states having concerns about this wildfire season, 55% reported that they didn’t know if their property was in a high-risk area, according to Zesty.ai, which polled consumers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
Nearly 90% of those surveyed believe mitigation efforts, such as clearing vegetation and installing screens, can make help protect property from wildfires. However, only two-thirds are taking these mitigation steps and just 27% perform them throughout the year. April, May and June were the most common months for homeowners to make mitigation efforts, the poll data showed.
Homeowners in Oregon are the most proactive in protecting property from wildfires, with 73% of respondents reporting they make mitigation efforts. Across the region, 66% of respondents said they do the same, Zesty.ai found.
When it comes to learning about the benefits of mitigation efforts, 51% of Western homeowners said a letter from a local fire official would be the best way to get that information, Zesty.ai reported. Less than 10% want to get that information from real estate websites, while 40% said it would be best to get details on the benefits of wildfire mitigation when applying for homeowners insurance.
Although many would like that information to come from an industry professional, nearly 60% said they have never discussed wildfire risks with an insurance provider. Californians are most likely to have these discussions. Nearly 40% said they’ve talked with an insurance professional about wildfire risks compared to 34% of all consumers surveyed.
Most Western homeowners are also confident (51%) or very confident (24%) in their state and local governments’ mitigation steps, according to the poll. Even more held the same sentiments when it came to the local fire department’s abilities to handle these types of emergencies.
Just 4.6% reported having no confidence in efforts by state and local governments, while 3.4% said they were not confident at all in the local fire department’s ability to manage/contain a fire-related emergency.
Related: