Wildfire loss mitigation starts with a plan

Wildfires are destructive, deadly, and unpredictable. Because of climate change, they are occurring more frequently and burning for much longer than they used to. Wildfire “season” has become a nebulous term, as these destructive events now happen throughout the year and throughout Canada, as was experienced during the record-breaking "unprecedented wildfire season of 2023."

Despite the growing wildfire risk with the ever-expanding wildland-urban interface (WUI) due to increasing population and urban expansion, business owners in areas prone to wildfires can take steps to build resilience, help mitigate their risk, and protect their employees and communities. Fundamentally, managing wildfire risk is no different than any other risk. You first need to identify the potential hazards and exposures, secondly, you need to assess the controls for their effectiveness, and lastly, develop adaptation plans to support resilience.

To better understand your wildfire risk, it’s recommended that a wildfire risk assessment is completed following proven methodologies from Zurich Resilience Solutions and others such as Fire Smart. This will allow for the appropriate prioritization of any operational or physical action items should they be required. Any mitigation efforts should start with a clear and well-practiced plan. Business owners should work closely with local fire officials and implement physical improvements to prevent wildfires from reaching or igniting your properties.

Start with a plan

Protecting your property and your people begins with developing an emergency plan that addresses actions to take before, during, and after a wildfire. The plan should include the following:

• Organize an internal work team to collaborate with local and wildland firefighters.
• Conduct a business impact analysis to assess business resiliency.
• Review shutdown and evacuation processes, including data backup, as well as shipping important tools and records offsite.
• Create a business continuity plan.
• Monitor wildfires year-round.

Business owners will need to rely on firefighters to help protect their properties, so it is important that they make it as easy as possible for them to do their job. Here’s how business owners can help:

• Create a pre-incident checklist that includes information about your facility, such as building layout, description of occupancies, and alarm and fire-protection systems.
• Maintain site entrances and ensure they’re clearly marked.
• Provide and clearly identify water sources, including fire hydrants, swimming pools, water storage tanks, wells, and ponds.
• Make sure entrances to your facility are large enough to accommodate emergency vehicles.

Effective pre-wildfire planning includes interaction with local authorities as well as employees to develop and fine-tune pre-wildfire strategies such as those outlined by FireSmart Canada and Wildfire – ICLR. Business owners should schedule regular inspections by the fire department to ensure they are up to date on their pre-incident checklist and any changes in their facility. They should also develop an evacuation plan and regularly schedule fire drills to assess time, staff, and resource needs.

Stop the wildfire spread

Wildfires spread by following a continuous path of combustibles. Windborne embers also present a threat. The key to reducing the likelihood that a wildfire impacts your property is to consider implementing “passive” controls or protections that do not require activation, such as non-combustible building elements. “Active” controls such as applying seasonal fire-retardant paints, as an example, are most effective when paired with “passive” controls. Here are some additional things to consider to reduce the spread of wildfires:

• Have sufficient open space free of vegetation and other combustibles between your business and any nearby forest.
• Provide open space of at least 7.6 meters (25 feet) between property and long grass or desert scrub, and at least 61 meters (200 feet) between property and forested areas.
• Invest in exterior building surfaces that are either noncombustible or considered resistant to ignition by embers.
• Consider active protection mechanisms such as exterior sprinkler systems, fire retardant paints, gels, etc. It’s important to note: the effectiveness of active protection system(s) to reduce damage potential is dependent on numerous variables such as weathering, age, condition, available water supplies, etc.
• Limit yard storage and remove flammable items, vehicles, and, especially, propane tanks from the property or move them at least 30.5 meters (100 feet) away from the building.
• Close and seal building openings with tight-fitting, non-combustible materials.
• Initiate safe shutdown of building and equipment air intakes
• Install tight-fitting, noncombustible doors, shutters, and/or dampers that can be closed when implementing your wildfire plan.
• Fully close and seal windows and doors, including garage doors.
• Cut the grass (keep below 15 centimeters (about 6 in) and irrigate the landscaping.
• Limit landscaping materials to noncombustible materials like stone, rock, brick, and concrete pavers.
• Avoid combustible materials like mulch, wood ties, and plastic ornamentations.

Where there’s smoke, there’s soot

Wildfires can produce plumes of smoke that spread far in advance of the fire itself, causing damage to a building even if flames never reach it. Smoke and soot damage from wildfires has resulted in multi-million-dollar losses, entering into a building through HVAC systems such as make-up air (MUA) or rooftop units (RTU) operating with a wildfire nearby or reactivated after a fire without appropriate cleaning. Here are some ways to minimize the impact:

• Find ways to keep soot and smoke from entering the building. For example, install louvers that automatically close when they’re not being used.
• Have a plan in place to shut down HVAC systems when necessary.
• Provide non-combustible covers for HVAC openings that can withstand high winds and contact with small items.
• Provide a way to automatically stop air intake fans upon smoke detection.
• Provide duct-type smoke detectors in all outside air intakes.
• Interlock duct-type smoke detectors to automatically remove power from air intake fans and automatically close air intake dampers upon smoke detection.
• Examine all HVAC systems, clean surface areas, and replace filters before resuming operation after a fire.

Following these steps can help businesses mitigate property losses well before they are facing an imminent threat from a wildfire. Business owners will also need to consider what actions to take as a wildfire approaches and how they can recover from losses caused by a wildfire.

These actions should be part of a fully developed wildfire Emergency Response Plan (ERP). The articles below detail the risks of wildfires and the other major components of a wildfire ERP. Taken together, they can provide your business with a path to reduced risks and faster recovery.

References

1. “Canada’s record-breaking wildfires in 2023: A fiery wake-up call” Government of Canada. 2023.
2. FireSmart Canada. 2024.
3. "Wildfire". The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. 2024

The information in this publication was compiled from sources believed to be reliable for informational purposes only. All sample policies and procedures herein should serve as a guideline, which you can use to create your own policies and procedures. We trust that you will customize these samples to reflect your own operations and believe that these samples may serve as a helpful platform for this endeavor. Any and all information contained herein is not intended to constitute advice (particularly not legal advice). Accordingly, persons requiring advice should consult independent advisors when developing programs and policies. We do not guarantee the accuracy of this information or any results and further assume no liability in connection with this publication and sample policies and procedures, including any information, methods or safety suggestions contained herein. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any of this information, whether to reflect new information, future developments, events or circumstances or otherwise. Moreover, Zurich reminds you that this cannot be assumed to contain every acceptable safety and compliance procedure or that additional procedures might not be appropriate under the circumstances. The subject matter of this publication is not tied to any specific insurance product nor will adopting these policies and procedures ensure coverage under any insurance policy.