Wildfires Pose Risk to Homes in 13 States

More than 740,000 properties across 13 states in the western U.S. are at risk of being damaged due to wildfire, a recent report said.

The combined value of these properties is expected to be more than $136 billion, information provider CoreLogic’s Wildfire Hazard Risk Report showed. The aggregate value of the very high risk properties, which comes just under 168,000 homes, is more than $32 billion.

"Over the last two decades, wildfire has been responsible for billions of dollars of property damage. Wildfires dominated news headlines in 2011, and again this summer, they have been responsible for record-setting property destruction across a swath of states spanning the West, from Colorado to Idaho to Washington," Dr. Howard Botts, vice-president and director of database development for CoreLogic Spatial Solutions, said in a statement.

"In 2012, we are experiencing a high fuel load of natural vegetation combined with very dry and hot conditions to produce a record wildfire season in terms of the number and size of fires across the U.S.

“Even so, unlike other natural hazards, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, hail storms and earthquakes, wildfires can be extinguished or redirected through fire suppression efforts. Accurately identifying risk levels, even in areas where wildfire activity has historically been low, is imperative to mitigating the potentially devastating effect of fires to property and on human life," Botts said.

According to the report, the states of California, Colorado and Texas have the largest number of properties that are at very high risk of being damaged in a wildfire. California has 49,258 homes that fall in the Very High Risk category, followed by Colorado and Texas with 48,901 and 28,490 respectively.
Los Angeles tops the chart of single family residences that are exposed to wildfire with 29,000 properties valued at nearly $10 million.

The report also points out that due to residential development into formerly undeveloped wild lands, the transitional area between a city and the wild land, known as the Wildfire Urban Interface, has become more prone to wildfire.

“Approximately 40 percent of homes in the U.S. are located in that zone, and wind-blown embers are capable of igniting homes located hundreds, or even thousands of feet away from an actual fire," said Botts.