Disaster Safety Blog

Most Western States Lack Comprehensive Wildfire Approach, Uniform Enforcement

Richburg, SC, Nov. 2, 2023 – New research shows few states and counties with the greatest wildfire risk are using sound regulatory approaches backed by consistent enforcement.

Living with Wildfire – a report from the Insurance Institute of Business & Home Safety (IBHS), the National Fire Protection Association® (NFPA®) and Verisk, examined community vulnerability and wildfire readiness around the wildland-urban interface (WUI) in 13 Western states.

Commercial Winter Weather Loss Training

Commercial Winter Weather Loss Training [Members Only] Duration: 1 hour, 40 minutes (Approx. 25 minutes per module) This four-part online training program will enhance your comprehension of how commercial building components respond to severe winter conditions. You will gain insight into resilient construction and optimal maintenance practices targeted at mitigating vulnerabilities. By gaining a deeper…

News Releases

Now’s the time to reduce wildfire risk for homes, businesses

Richburg, SC, Oct. 19, 2023 – Even as the seasons change, many communities are still at risk of wildfire. Property owners can strengthen their homes and businesses year-round using science-based mitigation actions from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). IBHS’s updated Wildfire Ready guides for homes and businesses provide critical steps, based on the latest wildfire research, to address ignition risk and lay out a pathway for property owners to build wildfire resilience.

Risk Research

Living with Wildfire

Research Wildfires become catastrophes when they enter our communities and a built environment conflagration unfolds. As our built environment continues to push into areas that were wildlands with fire as vital part of their ecosystems, an estimated 45 million residential buildings are now in high-risk wildfire areas across the United States. This study examines the wildfire…

News Releases

ZestyAI to Integrate IBHS’s Fast-Growing FORTIFIED Construction Standard Into Its Predictive Property and Climate Risk Platform

SAN FRANCISCO, CA September 28, 2023 – Today, ZestyAI, the leading provider of climate and property risk analytics solutions powered by artificial intelligence, announced it has integrated the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s (IBHS) resilient construction standard, FORTIFIED, into Z-PROPERTY™, its AI-powered predictive property and climate risk platform. Z-PROPERTY uses computer vision and machine learning to extract insights from aerial and satellite imagery, among other unique data sources, for over 150 million residential and commercial properties.

Members

Wildfire Prepared Social Resources

FORTIFIED social content.

News Releases

Live burn demonstrations show effectiveness of research-based mitigation actions in Wildfire Prepared Home

Richburg, SC, Sept. 26, 2023 – The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) last week conducted two live wildfire demonstrations in California showing the effectiveness of the research-based wildfire mitigation actions in its Wildfire Prepared Home designation program, including maintaining a noncombustible five-foot buffer around a home – Zone 0 – to help reduce its risk of ignition.

Wildfire

The Return of Conflagration in Our Built Environment

Research With the Oakland Hills Tunnel Fire of 1991, built environment conflagrations returned to United States cities. Wildfire, which had been viewed as a wildland and rural community problem, now was a catalyst for conflagration. Over the next three decades, the most catastrophic wildfires were often those where fire entered communities of the Wildland-Urban Interface…

Wind

Building Performance in SW Florida during Hurricane Ian (2022)

Research Hurricane Ian made landfall along the barrier island of Cayo Costa near Punta Gorda, Florida on September 28, 2022, as a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Hurricane Ian was the most significant test of the modern Florida Building Code since Hurricane Charley (2004) which made landfall in nearly the exact…

Guidance

Business Disaster Guides

Disaster Guidance for Your Business Severe weather disrupts lives, displaces families, and drives financial loss. IBHS delivers top-tier science and translates it into action so we can prevent avoidable suffering, strengthen our businesses, and support thriving communities. Business Disaster Ready Guides Hurricane Ready Thunderstorm Ready Wildfire Ready Winter Weather Ready IBHS Designation Programs FORTIFIED Home…