2023 CAS Virtual Wildfire Seminar

Session 1: Community Risk Reduction for Wildfire: Voluntary Programs and Regulatory Approaches

If structures do not ignite during wildfire, they can’t burn. This simple statement of fact is the science at the core of the only nationally available standardized program for community-based wildfire mitigation, Firewise USA®. Developed by the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association® (NFPA®) in 2002 in partnership with federal and state government agencies, Firewise USA teaches community residents about how to change wildfire outcomes by modifying the vulnerable elements of their homes and immediate surroundings. Today, there are more than 2,300 communities participating in this program, which requires long-term, sustained action across neighborhoods. This seminar will introduce participants to the concept of the Structure Ignition Zone and will demonstrate the effectiveness of wildfire mitigation practices across adjacent parcels to prevent community-wide conflagrations during wildfire events. Explore how the success of the voluntary Firewise USA program can be bolstered through the use of sound building codes and standards addressing wildfire ignition potential.

Presenter:

Michele Steinberg, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA®)

Session 2: An Update on Wildfire Activity, Modeling and Regulation

This webinar will provide a range of information around Wildfire modeling and recent activity around this peril. It will include an update to recent years' wildfire activity, recent legislation changes and how it impacts consumers and insurers, including mitigation initiatives. We will also take a look at wildfire risk models, and how climate change may be impacting Wildfires.

Presenter:

Tom Jeffery, CoreLogic Spatial Solutions

Bob Kowalski, CoreLogic Spatial Solutions

Howard Kunst, Chief Actuary, CoreLogic Spatial Solutions

12:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Break

Presenter:

Ronald Kozlowski, RTK Actuarial & Professional Services

Howard Kunst, Chief Actuary, CoreLogic Spatial Solutions

Rehan Siddique, Milliman

Break

Session 4: Understanding and Implementing the Impacts of Climate Change in Underwriting, Pricing, Risk Management, and Mitigation

Property losses from wildfires have skyrocketed in recent years, leading people to ask is this an aberration or a new trend? And what role does a warming climate play in the changing wildfire activity in the United States? In this session we will provide an overview of the physical connections between climate change and wildfires, with an emphasis on the western US, and discuss the contribution of climate change to average annual wildfire losses in the present day, as well as projections for the near-term future. By linking the academic science through probabilistic models to insurance use cases, we will show the audience how you can integrate these projections into your risk mitigation, pricing, reporting, and other actuarial activities.

Presenter:

Michael Tine, Senior Director, Client Development, KCC

Daniel Ward, Director, Model Development, KCC

Break

Session 5: Uniting Actuaries and Fire Chiefs: A Proposed Solution to the Wildfire Insurance Crisis

In California and other regions alike, wildfires have destroyed or threatened many communities, causing havoc in the insurance industry. The severe wildfires of the last decade have significantly impacted underwriting profits and led to immense regulatory changes, leaving insurers no choice but to make extreme decisions about the coverage they provide. While homeowners in high risk areas now struggle to find any coverage and those in lower risk areas are seeing their rates skyrocket to unbearable levels, Departments of Insurance are searching for solutions to balance affordability of coverage with profitability. Without intervention in the form of effective parcel-level and community-level mitigation, reliable and affordable risk transfer through the insurance market is in real peril. In an effort to address these issues, a strategic alliance has been formed consisting of fire chiefs, actuaries, and wildfire research specialists. This team is ready to pilot their proposed solution: the Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Pathway Disruption System (WFPDS). This presentation will focus in on the components of the proposed system, and provide examples and up to date status on the progress made.

Presenters:

Taylor Deacon, Milliman

Frank L. Frievalt, Federal Fire Agencies (ret.)

Rehan Siddique, Milliman