A working group on wildfires in Washington wants the state Le
gislature to consider requiring insurers to internally track instances in which wildfire risk materially contribu
tes to a policy nonrenewal, cancellation or eligibility determination—and to better explain wildfire risk scores.
The Wildfire Mitigation and Resiliency Standards Work Group, co-chaired by Washington Insurance Commissioner P
atty Kuderer and Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove, deliver
ed its final report and recommendations to the Legislature this week.
The report recommends establishing a voluntary grant progra
m to help residential properties resist wildfire loss. Work group
members also agreed on the need to enhance mitigation at th
e community level, improve data sharing between state agencies and
the insurance industry, and improve risk transparency for consumers.
Substitute House Bill 1539 established the work group to study
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and make recommendations on wildfire mitigation and resiliency standards. Members included representati
ves from state agencies, the insurance industry, fire services, lo
cal governments, Tribes, utilities, landowners and non-profits.
The group met in July and August to hear presentations from fire, mitigation and insurance experts from across the country. Recommendations from the group include:
The group recommended expanding DNR’s Community Resilience program, with additional campaigns to en
courage participation.
The group agreed on the importance of coordinating wildfir
e hazard, risk and mitigation data among state agencies, local
entities and the insurance industry, and offered three recommendations to improve data sharing capabilities.
The group made three recommendations on improving consumer transparency for wildfire hazard and risk:
1. Consider requiring insurers to track instances in which wildfire risk
materially contributes to a policy nonrenewal, cancellation or eligibility determination. 2. Consider requiring i
nsurers to share wildfire risk scores, and a clear explanation for those scores. 3. Consider developing a co
nsumer education program to explain wildfire risk assessment methods and connect homeowner
s with available funding or technical assistance programs.