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Wildfire Policy

Wildfires are no longer just forest fires—they’re community fires. Between 1980-2024, there were 23 separate billion-dollar wildfire events, including seven since 2018. This excludes the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, which caused an estimated $28–$54 billion in property damage.  

At IBHS, we advance science-informed public policies to make homes and communities more survivable and insurable in the face of wildfire. 

Why Wildfire Policy Matters

Wildfires are no longer just wildland events—they are destroying neighborhoods and entire communities. In recent years, we’ve seen row after row of homes reduced to ash as once-vibrant suburban and urban communities fall victim to devastating wildfire conflagrations: uncontrollable building-to-building fire spread. These events are becoming more frequent, more severe, and more costly across the U.S.  

Yet, solutions exist today. Wildfire mitigation actions at the home and neighborhood level works. With the right policies, communities can reduce risk, strengthen resilience, and prevent future disasters.  

“If we don’t mitigate together, we will surely burn together.” – Dr. Jack Cohen, Retired U.S. Fire Service Scientist  

The Challenge 

  • Solving the problem of conflagration events requires science-based mitigation actions at the home- and neighborhood-levels. Without this, wildfire losses will continue to rise, as fires intensify and new development expands into fire-prone areas. 
  • Reducing risk requires individual accountability, community-wide cooperation, and government engagement. Taken together, these efforts can significantly reduce the devastating toll that conflagrations take on communities. 

 

Policy Solutions 

Effective wildfire public policy includes:  

  • Adoption and enforcement of wildland-urban interface (WUI) building codes and defensible space requirements. 
  • Providing financial incentives to offset mitigation costs at the home and community level. 
  • Reforming HOA rules that block or discourage wildfire protection measures.  
  • Creating wildfire mitigation programs to help homeowners identify vulnerabilities and take mitigation action.  

 

The Role of Federal, State & Local Action 

While state and local government drive most wildfire policy, the federal government also plays a critical role.  

  • In 2021, Congress established a bipartisan law to create a 50-member commission to address our nation’s wildfire crisis.  
  • Its 2023 final report, includes many of the same policy strategies that must be implemented at the state and local levels, including:  
  • Increased federal funding for proactive mitigation strategies 
  • Broader adoption and enforcement of science-informed building codes 
  • Use of science-based programs like IBHS’s Wildfire Prepared Home as models for resilience. 

Learn more about IBHS’s wildfire research and the science behind how conflagrations occur.

Wildfire Prepared Home™ Designation Program 

Creating Survivable and Insurable Homes and Communities with Science-informed Policies 

The Wildfire Prepared Home™ designation empowers homeowners to take science-based steps to meaningfully reduce wildfire risk. Developed by IBHS, the program follows a systems-based approach—addressing multiple vulnerabilities rather than a single action. It guides homeowners through a defined set of mitigation steps and offers a designation certificate for those who meet the requirements.  

Parcel-Level Mitigations 

Property-level mitigations form the first line of defense against wildfire. This system of mitigations is science-based, affordable to implement, and when taken together, proven to meaningfully reduce home ignitions during wildfires. 

Research shows the set of critical parcel-level mitigation actions that can reduce home ignitions from embers, while additional actions primarily focused on building materials and more stringent defensible space, can further reduce the risk of home ignition from radiant heat and direct flame contact.  

 

Wildfire Prepared Designation Levels  

There are two designation levels available —Base and Plus—each with specific criteria. 

  1. Home-Level Designation (Base) 
  • Focuses on a set of most critical wildfire mitigation measures to help protect homes from wind-driven embers—the leading cause of home ignitions—and breaking the pathway of connective fuels to limit fire spread to the structure. 
  • To earn a designation, a property must meet all Base level requirements: 
    • Class A fire-rated roof 
    • Maintaining a 0–5 Foot Noncombustible Zone 
    • Upgrading vulnerable building features 
    • Maintaining defensible space out to 30 feet (or to the property line) 
  1. Plus-Level Designation
  • Builds on the Base level designation, often achieved through new construction or exterior renovations.  
  • Adds enhanced building features and stricter defensible space requirements within 30 feet to improve protection against radiant heat and direct flame contact.  
  • To earn a Plus designation, a home must meet all Base-level requirements, as well as additional Plus-level criteria. 

To date, IBHS has issued more than 1,300 Wildfire Prepared Home designations for homes in California and Oregon. The program is also now available in New Mexico and Nevada.

Critical Mitigation Actions: (abbreviated list) 

  • Installing a Class A fire-rated roof, which provides the highest level of fire resistance 
  • Installing ember- and flame-resistant vents or covering existing vents with 1/8-inch metal mesh screen to prevent embers from entering the home through openings 
  • Creating a 0–5 Foot Noncombustible Zone by removing all combustible materials, such as vegetation, mulch, wood or vinyl fencing, and trash/recycle bins, within the first five feet surrounding a structure 

Studies demonstrate that structural modifications can reduce wildfire risk by up to 40 %, and structural and vegetation modifications combined can reduce wildfire risk by up to 75 %. 

Additional Mitigation Actions: (abbreviated list)  

  • Noncombustible siding, such as fiber-cement, stucco, or masonry veneer 
  • Enclosed eaves with noncombustible soffit material 
  • Noncombustible decks, such as light weight concrete or metal 
  • Dual-pane windows with tempered glass in both panes 

 

Neighborhood-Level Mitigations 

One prepared home is not enough. If neighboring properties are unmitigated, wildfire can still spread. In densely developed suburban and urban neighborhoods, preventing conflagration requires mitigation action at both the parcel- and neighborhood-levels.  

Key neighborhood risk factors that drive conflagration: 

  • Structure separation (lack of spacing) 
  • Connective fuels
  • Combustible building materials  

To address these, IBHS developed the Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood standard, a science-based approach for neighborhood-scale mitigation. When adopted, it transforms neighborhoods from dense fuel sources into protective fuel breaks, significantly reducing the potential for conflagration. 

Wildfire Risk and Insurance Markets 

Wildfires are driving rising insurance costs and reduced availability in many states. While the hard insurance market in wildfire-prone states is influenced by multiple factors—inflation, rising home values, legal system abuse, and regulatory challenges—increased wildfire risk and growing conflagration losses are key contributors.  

The Role of Mitigation 

  • Science-based wildfire mitigation, when implemented as a system and independently verified, can improve both the survivability and insurability of homes.  
  • Homeowners who earn a Wildfire Prepared designation may: 
    • Be more likely to stay in the admitted insurance market rather than FAIR Plans or last-resort options. 
    • Gain access to better coverage at lower cost.  
    • In some cases, qualify for insurance pricing considerations.  

Market-Level Benefits 

At scale, community-wide mitigation strengthens entire insurance markets by:  

  • Reducing claims severity and frequency 
  • Supporting healthier, more stable insurance markets 
  • Expanding choices for consumers 

IBHS in Action 

To advance this goal, IBHS works with state insurance regulators and other policymakers to share wildfire science education and promote science-based wildfire policies.  

Financial Incentives for Wildfire Mitigation Actions  

Financial incentives are critical to driving widespread and timely adoption, particularly for low-and-moderate income households. To be effective, incentives must be designed around the latest wildfire science to ensure they deliver real, measurable risk reduction.  

Financial Tools 

A variety of tools can help homeowners, businesses and communities take action:  

  • Grant programs: funding for homeowners, business owners, and entire neighborhoods to proactively implement wildfire mitigation measures. 
  • Tax credits: offset costs of risk-reducing building and landscaping materials 
  • Tax-friendly savings accounts: encourage proactive investment in wildfire mitigation expenses 

State Examples 

  • California’s Assembly Bill 232 would, if enacted, allow homeowners to use tax-exempt savings accounts to proactively mitigate their property’s wildfire risk and cover insurance deductibles and uninsured losses in the aftermath of a disaster. 
  • California’s Assembly Bill 888 will establish the California Safe Homes grant program to help residents harden their homes against wildfires. 
  • California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)’s California Wildfire Mitigation Program has since 2019 provided financial assistance to low- and moderate-income homeowners in wildfire-prone areas to retrofit their homes. 
  • New Mexico’s Senate Bill 33 establishes a grant program to help homeowners earn a Wildfire Prepared designation. 

Defensible Space Requirements
Defensible space reduces fuel around structures, often up to 100 feet. The most critical area is the 0-5 Foot Noncombustible Zone (Zone 0), where removing combustible materials can dramatically reduce a home’s ignition risk.  

  • Wildfire science consistently shows that 0-5 Foot Noncombustible Zone requirements may be the single-most effective mitigation a state can enforce to reduce risk at scale.  
  • If every community adopted and enforced, the 0-5 Foot Noncombustible Zone regulations could significantly disrupt connective fuels that allow wildfire to spread from structure to structure, a driving factor in conflagrations. 
  • California AB 3074 (2020), mandated the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to develop Zone 0 regulations by January 1, 2023. After the devastating January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires (over $250 billion in economic losses), Governor Newsom signed an executive order in February 2025 requiring the Board to release draft regulations within 45 days and finalize them by the end of 2025.  Work by the Board is now underway. 

Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Codes
Modern and enforced WUI codes require noncombustible materials and designs in new constructed. And yet few states have adopted modern, statewide WUI codes and defensible space requirements, leaving rebuilt and new developments vulnerable. 

States with modern statewide WUI codes include: 

  • California: Part 7 of the California Building Code + state statute requiring Zone 0 standards 
  • Utah: Statewide WUI code based on the 2003 IWUIC 

Is it affordable? Research from IBHS and Headwaters Economics shows that in California, building a home to the Wildfire Prepared Home standard (which exceeds the current state WUI code) can add less than $3,000 to total construction costs.  

Mitigation-Friendly State Policies
HOA rules can undermine wildfire safety. Many enforce architectural and landscaping standards to preserve neighborhood appearance but can conflict with wildfire mitigation best practices.  

  • HOA covenants should be reviewed and revised to reduce–rather than contribute to–wildfire risk.  
  • State lawmakers can enact legislation preventing HOAs from prohibiting homeowners from taking necessary actions to protect their homes from wildfire. 

WILDFIRE PREPARED HOME Adoption by State and Local Governments 

  • California:  
  • Colorado:  
    • Since 2024: Homeowners associations (HOAs) cannot penalize residents for using fire-resistant building materials, including those in IBHS’s Wildfire Prepared standard. 
    • Beginning 2026: Insurers using risk and catastrophe models must account for property-and-community-level mitigation actions taken by policyholders. (defined as equivalent to IBHS’s Wildfire Prepared Home designation) in pricing. 
  • New Mexico:  
    • Beginning 2025: State agencies will develop  grant programs to help homeowners obtain a Wildfire Prepared designation. 
  • Oregon:  
    • Since 2024: Insurers are required to reflect wildfire mitigation actions in underwriting and rate plans and disclose publicly how they may impact rates on insurers’ websites. IBHS’s Wildfire Prepared Home standard is cited as an example of a property-level wildfire risk mitigation action. 
    • Beginning 2025: State agencies will evaluate and recommend community-based wildfire risk mitigation actions that can reduce wildfire risks and increase insurance affordability and availability in this state, the law requiring consideration of IBHS’s Wildfire Prepared Home and Neighborhood designation programs. 
  • Washington:  
    • Beginning 2025: Insurance and public lands commissioners will establish a wildfire mitigation and resilience work group to study and make recommendations. The law requires an IBHS representative to serve on the work group.