6.
City Council Joint Work Session - AMENDED
- Meeting Date:
- 09/23/2024
- From:
- Neil Chapman, Forest Health Supervisor
- Department:
- Fire Department
Co-Submitter:
Paul Oltrogge
Information
TITLE:
Discussion with City of Flagstaff and Coconino County Staff Regarding Wildfire Risk and Insurance Challenges Discussion of the Flagstaff Fire Department's wildfire risk mitigation and insurance strategy, and community and multi-agency efforts that have been made up to the current timeline
DESIRED OUTCOME:
Inform the Flagstaff City Council and Coconino County Board of Supervisors of the Flagstaff Fire Department's strategy to mitigate wildfire risk, cost of homeowner insurance, and future uncertainty around the cost of homeowner insurance, mainly at the parcel level and an update from Coconino County staff on the County’s work and advocacy to confront and address the homeowners insurance crisis in Arizona
Executive Summary:
Since 1997, the City of Flagstaff Fire Department (FFD) has been investing in wildfire risk reduction in both the natural environment (forests and grasslands) and the built environment (neighborhoods). Successful natural environment wildfire risk reduction collaborative efforts include the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI), and of course, the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project (FWPP). FFD continues to be a leader in efforts to reduce wildfire risk in the built environment.
Education programs that inform the public about risks and how to mitigate them have been in place for over 20 years. The City of Flagstaff adopted the International Wildland Urban Interface Code in 2008, creating engineering and enforcement regulations to safeguard life and property from the intrusion of wildland fire and to prevent structure fires from spreading to wildland fuels. City funding is leveraged via state grants that provide economic incentives to homeowners to reduce hazardous fuels, and emergency response partnerships like the Poderosa Fire Advisory Council protect the community and firefighters by ensuring first responders have appropriate training and communications.
As recipient of grant funding to update the Flagstaff Fire Department's Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), the willdland fire management program will be working through a process congruent with that of reducing the wildfire risk burden to the homeowner.
Increasingly, large and destructive wildfires are devastating both the natural and built environments, creating a new challenge for wildland-urban interface communities like Flagstaff. Actual wildfires, and the perceived risk of future wildfires, are aligning to destabilizing homeowners insurance markets. The City of Flagstaff Fire Department, in partnership with the Arizona Fire Chiefs Association and the Western Fire Chiefs Association, has developed a strategy and framework to address the wildland fire risk and insurance challenge.
In the face of these rapidly changing conditions, homeowners need to implement science-based, agreed-upon risk reduction measures, and insurers need accurate and comprehensive information to better understand and manage the risk.
Education programs that inform the public about risks and how to mitigate them have been in place for over 20 years. The City of Flagstaff adopted the International Wildland Urban Interface Code in 2008, creating engineering and enforcement regulations to safeguard life and property from the intrusion of wildland fire and to prevent structure fires from spreading to wildland fuels. City funding is leveraged via state grants that provide economic incentives to homeowners to reduce hazardous fuels, and emergency response partnerships like the Poderosa Fire Advisory Council protect the community and firefighters by ensuring first responders have appropriate training and communications.
As recipient of grant funding to update the Flagstaff Fire Department's Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), the willdland fire management program will be working through a process congruent with that of reducing the wildfire risk burden to the homeowner.
Increasingly, large and destructive wildfires are devastating both the natural and built environments, creating a new challenge for wildland-urban interface communities like Flagstaff. Actual wildfires, and the perceived risk of future wildfires, are aligning to destabilizing homeowners insurance markets. The City of Flagstaff Fire Department, in partnership with the Arizona Fire Chiefs Association and the Western Fire Chiefs Association, has developed a strategy and framework to address the wildland fire risk and insurance challenge.
In the face of these rapidly changing conditions, homeowners need to implement science-based, agreed-upon risk reduction measures, and insurers need accurate and comprehensive information to better understand and manage the risk.
Information:
n/a