ISO: New Tool Shows Where Wildfire Danger Lies
NU Online News Service, Oct. 6, 3:50 p.m. EDT?A management data firm says its risk management tool that uses satellite imagery correctly foresaw where last year's devastating Southern California wildfires would erupt.[@@]
Almost 40 percent of the dwellings destroyed were located in zones rated as the highest danger by the "FireLine" geographic information system, according to the Insurance Services Office, Inc. in Jersey City, N.J.
By overlaying FireLine maps on territories ravaged by California's most severe brushfire, ISO said its experts were able to confirm that most of the destruction occurred in areas designated to be the greatest brushfire risk.
The company said it studied property destroyed in the Cedar, Paradise and San Bernardino fires in late October and early November, which destroyed 3,300 buildings, burned down more than 425,000 acres of woodland and caused more than $2 billion in insured property losses.
The FireLine maps--color-coded to indicate density of brushfire-causing fuel--were overlaid on satellite photos of the perimeters of the three fires, and confirmed that FireLine fuel classifications correlated accurately with the severity of property destruction, ISO said.
ISO said its study also showed more than 63 percent of the burned areas where thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged were classified as containing heavy fuel, presenting the greatest risk of wildfire.
FireLine is an automated solution for identifying potential wildfire hazards for any California address, ISO said. By combining information on topography (slope of terrain), fuel types and road access for community firefighters, FireLine provides insurers with a complete assessment of the risk of an individual property.
Insurers overlay FireLine satellite images of fuel, slope and access information on county and street maps to pinpoint wildfire hazards. Insurers may access FireLine components independently to develop their own hazard assessments.
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