IBHS expands wildfire resilience program as fire risk grows

Dangerous wildfire conditions have spread across the country, reaching deeper into hurricane-prone regions like Florida and the Gulf Coast as the weather grows hotter, drier, and windier.

That expanding threat is reshaping how communities and insurers assess fire risk in places long defined by storm surge rather than flames.

To address the threat, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, a nonprofit supported by insurers and reinsurers, is extending its Wildfire Prepared program to Florida and nine other states. The program, first launched in 2022, will now be available in 14 states, up from four.

The program gives homeowners, builders and neighborhoods research-backed steps to build fire resilience and reduce risk. Third-party inspectors verify properties for one of two designations: Wildfire Prepared Home or Wildfire Prepared Home Plus. Standards focus on blocking wind-driven embers, limiting radiant heat and reducing direct flame exposure, and include a neighborhood designation to prevent structure-to-structure spread.

“Wildfire doesn’t stop at a property line,” IBHS CEO Roy Wright said in a statement announcing the expansion. “Once it enters a neighborhood, the built environment can either slow it down or help it spread.”

Wright said the expansion reflects rising demand for proven mitigation in regions where fire was once seasonal or localized.

Rising wildfire risk across expansion states

IBHS started with California, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon – states that rank among the highest for acreage burned. Last January, wildfires swept through the Los Angeles area, causing billions in damage.

The program now covers Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. They are also among the top states for acres burned annually, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

The L.A. fires drew major attention because of the neighborhoods destroyed and the ongoing rebuilding effort. Still, National Centers for Environmental Information data show total acres burned nationwide last year fell below the 7 million annual average.

Forecasters, however, see potential trouble ahead this year. The National Interagency Fire Center predicts above-normal fire potential this spring across much of the West and South. Exceptional warmth, record-low snowpack and expanding drought are rapidly scorching vegetation from California and the Great Basin into the Southwest and Rockies.

The center’s April report noted that “dry and abnormally warm conditions in March brought intensifying drought to large parts of the region, boosting wildfire activity late in the month while hinting at some of the concerns that could stick around until consistent heavy rainfall returns.”

If drought lingers and early tropical storms miss the Gulf Coast, the report concluded, East Texas through Florida could face unusually intense summer wildfire activity.

Florida is already experiencing wildfires

Florida’s inclusion comes as more than 1,600 drought-fueled wildfires have burned statewide through March, according to state officials. That pace would push Florida past 6,400 wildfires by year’s end – more than double last year’s total. In March, a 500-acre Calhoun County blaze destroyed 16 homes when high winds met dry vegetation.

“These fires, with the wind we’ve had and the freezes, are a perfect recipe for a major system,” state Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said at a press briefing two weeks ago.

April through June is Florida’s peak fire season. Simpson called the current drought the worst in more than a decade. The Florida Forest Service has added firefighters, helicopters, drones and bulldozers to combat more blazes across the state’s forests and wetlands.

A push for verified fire risk mitigation

Expanding development in fire-prone areas has pushed officials and insurers toward building standards and neighborhood-scale mitigation to curb losses. IBHS is betting verified mitigation can keep communities ahead of a growing threat. The designations are voluntary but complement land-use planning, firefighting investments and homeowner education already underway in many states.

For Florida homeowners, the expansion offers a template for hardening homes before peak season. For policymakers from the Gulf Coast to the Rockies, it signals that wildfire resilience is now a year-round concern.