UL Research Institutes (ULRI) is a leading independent, non-profit safety science organization founded in 1894. Its mission is to investigate, identify, and counter risks to human safety, public health, and the environment through scientific research. What led up to the report California officially allowed property insurance companies to use forward-looking catastrophe risk models on December
Wildfire Risk Modeling Report Read Post »
Hidden Hills has successfully renewed its Firewise USA® status, and the certificate is valid until the end of 2027. Get Your Insurance Discount Today. In 2022, the California Department of Insurance enacted “Safer from Wildfires,” requiring insurance companies to recognize Firewise USA® designated communities by providing discounts to property owners in those communities. The Hidden Hills 2026-2027
2026-2027 Firewise Certificates Available For Download Read Post »
Watch Full Video Below On October 26, 2026, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) and CalChiefs Fire Marshal Section held a live side-by-side burn demonstration to show how proven home and landscaping mitigation strategies will reduce home ignition and improve wildfire resilience. Constructed to mimic most of our homes Open eaves Vinyl
IBHS Side-By-Side Burn Read Post »
A firefighting plane dumps water on the Palisades fire on Jan. 7, 2025. Photo courtesy: Brian van den Burg/Los Angeles Times A sweeping new review of the January 2025 Los Angeles fires concludes that no single agency or decision explains the destruction. Instead, it describes a system that was never designed for fires like these.
A System Overwhelmed: Palisades and Eaton Fires Read Post »
Wildfire risk keeps growing, and so do home insurance costs. Many homeowners are asking how to make their homes safer, and what it will cost. Upfront costs for wildfire-resistant retrofits range from modest to significant. But new research suggests the price tag is only part of the story. The benefits beyond fire protection Headwaters Economics
Wildfire-Resistant Homes Do More Than Resist Fire Read Post »
Great news: Governor Newsom has signed the first-in-the-nation standards for testing and remediating hazardous wildfire smoke contamination for future fires and requires insurers to cover qualifying smoke damage, testing, remediation, and restoration. California Enacts First-in-Nation Standards for Smoke-Damaged Homes In the ashes of the January 2025 wildfires, thousands of Los Angeles-area homeowners have faced a
New Standards for Smoke-Damaged Homes Read Post »
Make September the Month You Get Your Mitigation Work Done. September marks Wildfire Prevention Month, positioned at the point in the calendar when much of the western United States is at peak fire risk — vegetation is at its driest, and fire activity historically remains high through early fall. The month is used by fire
September is Wildfire Prevention Month Read Post »
We strongly advise all residents to download and use the Watch Duty App. Watch Duty, the wildfire tracking and alert app, marks five years of operation this year, having launched in August 2021. In that time, it has grown from a single-county volunteer project into one of the most widely used wildfire information tools in
Watch Duty Turns Five Read Post »
CA Board of Forestry and Fire Protection Approves First-in-the-Nation Zone 0 Regulations. Thank you to the CA Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. They have worked tirelessly to complete these regulations. No, we didn’t all get everything we wanted but we all got something that will keep us all safer from wildfire. This has to
CA Board of Forestry and Fire Protection approves final Zone 0 regulations Read Post »
Wildfires aren’t just a California problem. They’re burning on four continents at once, and the numbers this week are staggering. Here’s where things stand as of July 30, 2026. The US: 92 large fires and counting. Firefighters are currently working to suppress and contain 92 large fires across the country, with 9 new large incidents
Wildfires Raging on Four Continents Read Post »
Home Hardening Benefits are driving a whole new wave of Home Wildfire Protection Products. As wildfire seasons grow longer and more intense, so has the market for products designed to help homes survive them. What used to be a fairly narrow category—defensible space and maybe a fire-resistant roof—has expanded into a genuine industry, with new
A New Wave of Home Hardening Products Read Post »
Momentum is building to solve the home insurance crisis. California lawmakers are finally doing something about the insurance mess wildfire survivors have been dealing with since the LA fires wiped out roughly 11,000 homes two years ago. The bad news: it’s a lot of moving pieces, some are law already, some are still bills, and
There is Light at the End of the Home Insurance Tunnel Read Post »
Wildfire is shaping the CA Insurance Market. Stanford University Climate and Energy Policy Program has released a white paper that looks at the current home insurance crisis with origins like Prop 103 that goes back as far 1988. Proposition 103, although enacted to manage a surge in the auto insurance premiums, established a statutory framework
Stanford University 2026 Insurance Market Report Read Post »
If huge organizations can’t control a wildfire, how can I control a wildfire? It’s not a matter of controlling a wildfire; it’s a matter of changing the conditions of the house. Getting an assessment is what all homeowners can do. – Jack Cohen Ph.D Your Home Can Survive a Wildfire Jack Cohen, Ph.D., is often
It doesn’t take big flames to burn the house down Read Post »
Finally, good news about home insurance. Zurich US has submitted a commercial property insurance rate filing under California’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy. It is one of the first large commercial carriers to join the state’s effort to stabilize its insurance market. The strategy was created by California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. It is designed to expand the availability of
Insurance Companies Are Coming Back Read Post »
Standing-room-only workshop highlighted the urgent need for community action.Since the event three weeks ago, we have experienced two local wildfires. Six Educational Panels Promoted Wildfire Mitigation Education On May 9th, 2026, at the Calabasas Community Center, about 150 regional Firewise community leaders and industry stakeholders, including volunteers from EPIC-FSC (Emergency Preparedness in Calabasas – A
Regional Firewise Leader Workshop Read Post »
In trying to reflect on the Simi Valley Sandy Fire, we could think of nothing better than to publish, with permission, a letter sent to us by Debbie Bernard, the Firewise Leader for The Woodlands Firewise Community. Our HOA, The Woodlands in Simi Valley, was battle tested this past week with the Sandy fire. Fire
Sandy Fire: Report From My Backyard Read Post »
