The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) recently conducted the first-ever full-scale wildfire demonstration at its research center in South Carolina to illustrate how easily some commonly used materials and items near or on houses can ignite from embers, and what homeowners can do to better protect their homes.

“IBHS' wind-driven ember system replicates the wildfire ember shower environment observed during an actual wildland fire, both visually and the ember impact on the various components of structures and landscapes,” says Chief Will May, ret., Vice Chair – Wildland Fire Policy Committee, International Association of Fire Chiefs.

The Insurance Information Institute says that, historically, the costliest U.S. wildfires have been in California, which saw an average of $500 million per year in insured losses from 1990 to 2009. IBHS estimates annual property damage from wildfires to be around $200 million.

While there were a number of large wildfires in Southern California in 2009, damages were far below average. Munich Re put insured catastrophic wildfire losses at $185 million in 2009.

IBHS is an independent, nonprofit, scientific and educational organization supported by the property insurance industry.

Special Reports /

IBHS Burns House to Study Wildfire Behavior &mdash; Video

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