When Land is Damaged by Wildfire: Fuel Reduction Implications

As the media focus in recent weeks and months has involved the hazards and damages resulting from fire, many families are struggling to find the financial resources to repair not only their homes but their land and communities. A unique aspect of fire damage involves the degree to which land is financially insured in the future and the degree to which fuel reduction policies will apply.

With billions of dollars lost to wildfires each year, it is important to know how your home and land will fall into the spectrum of financial impact and insurance coverage protection. Fire, as we know, can not be contained to one location. Whether you are victim of wildfire or victim to arson of a house or business in your neighborhood, your property will most likely be affected.

In the days and weeks after your home and land are renovated, there will most likely be discussions involving the fuel reduction regulations in your area. While the state or county may impose fuel reduction regulations for your area, you, as the homeowner, have the right to further reduce fuel reduction within your property lines.

In many communities where wildfires are a threat, there are negotiations and strategic planning that must take place to ensure that adequate fuel reduction limitations are in place. Because one homeowner's decision on fuel reduction can impact an entire neighborhood, the collaborative efforts of multiple homeowners', businesses and public land management companies, can have an even more powerful impact.

In many cases, when public and private issues on fuel reduction are of concern, the public and social policy will lean toward that of the homeowner. In other words, when there is a debate about the degree to which fuel reduction policies should be implemented, if the homeowners in that community want more, the decision will sway to the homeowner, often creating additional financial burden upon public funding resources.