Wildfires Not A Crisis: Insurers

By Gregg Greenberg

NU Online News Service, July 18, 10:42 a.m. EST?Wildfires that ravaged sections of Arizona, Colorado and Oregon this summer may have destroyed large sections of America's National Forests, but from an insurance liability standpoint, such wildfires "are not yet a crisis situation," according to an insurers group spokesman.

Charles Schmidt, VP of Public Affairs for the Alliance of American Insurers, based in Downers Grove, Ill., said the reason wildfires' toll on carriers is far less than one might conclude after viewing the blazes on the nightly news is the relatively low level of residential housing near the National Forest sites.

Insurance Services Office spokesman Dave Dasgupta, based in Jersey City, N.J., also does not consider wildfires to be on par with other natural disasters like tornadoes or hurricanes when it comes to insurance risk. Mr. Dasgupta confirmed that a relatively low $2.56 billion in insured property losses from wildfires has been paid out by insurers to policyholders since 1991, not including the losses from the most recent wildfires in Arizona.

Despite these facts, and due to the large increase in residential dwellings near national forests since the late 1990's, Mr. Schmidt and his organization see the potential for increased insurer liability and are pushing the Federal Government for full funding of the National Fire Plan.

The National Fire Plan is a collaborative effort by the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior to manage the impact of wildfires on communities and the environment.

On Tuesday the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, chaired by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., met for a hearing on the need for additional funds to fight fires in wild land acreage.

"Insurers have a strong interest in protecting the lives and property of their policyholders who suffer when proper fire planning is not implemented. We strongly support the committee's efforts," said Kenneth Schloman, Washington counsel for the Alliance.

Mr. Schmidt said his organization's efforts to promote fire prevention are meant to avert a repeat of situations like the wildfires near Oakland in 1991 that forced a number of homeowners to obtain insurance under the California FAIR Plan.

The "FAIR" in FAIR Plan is an acronym for Fair Access to Insurance Requirements and was established in 1968 by the California legislature to provide basic property insurance to property owners who are unable to obtain it in the normal market.

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Wildfires Not A Crisis: Insurers

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