Fire town hall talks home insurance, prep

Panelists talked about a program that could help homeowners with insurance in higher fire risk areas during a wildfire preparation and insurance town hall held Wednesday at the Grant County Veterans Memorial Business and Conference Center.
Panelist and Property and Casualty Bureau Chief Melissa Robertson of the New Mexico Office of the Superintendent of Insurance said that the program is called Wildfire Prepared Home, and is hosted by the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.
“It’s a program you go through to mitigate your home [risks],” Robertson said.
She explained that there are two plans through the program, one for retrofitting already-built structures and the other for new construction.
Someone involved with the program will assess the property according to a checklist, which includes defensible space and the home’s construction. After the homeowner passes the assessment, they will be given a certificate that they can present to their insurance provider.
Prevention and Communications Manager George Ducker of the New Mexico State Forestry Division said that while the program is optional, it is an opportunity to work with insurance agencies to get coverage in fire risk areas.
“No one’s forcing you to do any of this, but what’s happening is we’ve had a really interesting opportunity to work with the insurance companies themselves,” Ducker said.
He explained that the organization will set test homes on fire in order to test the different standards, which is how they have developed the program’s checklist. He said that the ideal is that this certificate will help homeowners get or keep their home insurance.
“They’re not making promises — even IBHS is not saying that this is a silver bullet to the insurance problem — but it’s wonderful we’re able to work with them,” Ducker said.
Robertson said that she and OSI Consumer Assistance and Civil Investigations Bureaus Chief Elouisa Macias are now going through the training to certify homeowners, along with the state fire marshal, who can then train fire departments.
More information on the program can be found at wildfireprepared.org, including a checklist that residents can review themselves before an inspection.
Grant County Emergency Manager Scot Fuller said that residents should always be ready, and all the panelists advised preparing before a wildfire starts. He said that residents should remember people, pets, photos, paperwork and pills when planning and when evacuating.
Macias and Robertson advised that residents video their home, opening all cabinets and doors, so that it is easier to create an itemized list in case of losses.
Robertson said that residents should have their go-bags ready because of how quickly wildfire can spread. Macias said that residents should have multiple family meet-up spots predetermined.
“I know up in the mountainous areas, where I live now, the last fire that we had run up there, people in some of the areas had four minutes to get out of their house,” Robertson said.
She added that there are community preparedness plans in place, and if residents don’t feel safe, they can and should leave even before an evacuation order is issued.
Residents should keep their insurance information on them during and after the fire, Robertson said, so that they can access resources that might help them during evacuation.
“A lot of homeowners’ policies have what they call conditional living expenses, or loss of use,” she said. “This helps you afford the clothes you did not leave with, your medications, a hotel room, meals.”
Robertson said having the paperwork is helpful in contacting insurance providers, because if a resident is evacuated, their local insurance agent has likely been evacuated as well. She said residents should know what is covered in their policy.
Macias said that if residents are unsure why they have seen rate increases or have been dropped from their insurance, they should contact her office, as insurance agencies are legally required to answer her inquiries.
Ducker said that the State Forestry Division provides a Landowners Resource Guide, which can be found at emnrd.nm.gov/sfd/technical-as sistance-to-landown ers-and-communities. He said the guide shows landowners all the ways that State Forestry can support them in thinning and treatment efforts.
Grant County Fire Chief Roger Groves gave an update on fire conditions and firefighting efforts in the area.
“We had a great green-up in August — looked like Ireland around here — but I’ll tell you what, now it’s turning brown,” Groves said. “We got a huge fuel load out there, and it’s scary.”
He said that the latest U.S. drought report said that most of the county is again in extreme drought conditions. He said that the parts that are not extreme are in severe drought.
“No real projected moisture in the next several weeks isn’t going to help,” Groves said. “They’re saying that we’ll probably have a drier, maybe a little colder winter, but not a lot of snow.”
He noted that recent smoke has come from Arizona fires, as well as prescribed pile burns.
Groves said that there is a unified command with all of the fire departments in the county, and that a class of 25 new fire recruits will start training this weekend. He said that those classes normally do not start until after Jan. 1.
“Twenty-five is a pretty good number for a class,” Groves said.
He said state work on ignition cameras will start in the future, but could not speak more on it, as it was not a county program.
Groves said that fire departments will also go out to properties by request and make recommendations on how to improve defensible space around structures.
The county also has a chipper program where residents can rent a wood chipper to dispose of excess fuels around the house, although the wood chipper is currently out for maintenance.
Groves said that there are programs available through the Forestry Division to help residents create defensible space. He advised residents to contact the Silver City satellite office for more information.
“Fire season is really a year-round thing,” Groves said. “It’s no longer four, five months of the year, and the rains come and it’s over — not at all.”
He said that the winter months are a good time for thinning and getting rid of fuel, and that residents need to think about fire preparation.
Ducker said that 80 percent of fires in New Mexico are human-caused, but only a small number of those are caused by arson.
He said that residents should be aware of the environments that can contribute to a wildfire start, such as a windy day while working with spark-producing power tools outdoors.
“If there’s a lot of wind, it’s not the day to do that welding project,” Ducker said.
State Sen. Gabriel Ramos and state Rep. Luis Terrazas acted as introductory speakers for the event.
Ramos talked about the struggle of insuring at-risk homes in the area. He said that while the limit for home insurance had been raised to $500,000 by the OSI in certain areas, it was not enough. He talked about passing legislation in future sessions to help those who cannot get insured.
Terrazas talked about the importance of public participation in community meetings and taking advantage of what is already available. He talked about his past work in getting surveyors out for land clearing and making opportunities for private and public entities to get generators.
He talked about the need to fund volunteer fire departments through the state for infrastructure and equipment needs.
—MARCELA JOHNSON