Nearly 320,000 single-family homes in Colorado are at risk of wildfire damage with potential losses highest in El Paso County, according to CoreLogic, a property information firm that prepares an annual Wilfire Report.
California, Florida, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico are the top five states in terms of the number of homes susceptible to wildfire damage, CoreLogic estimates. But given their much smaller populations than the first three states, Colorado and New Mexico are more vulnerable on a percentage of homes basis.
“Colorado’s Front Range is a geographic feature that encompasses some of the largest concentrations of wildfire risk in Colorado,” said Tom Larsen, senior director of insurance solutions at CoreLogic, in an email. “The large number of homes nestled along the wildland interface defines the risk here.”
El Paso County has 38,560 single-family homes at risk of wildfire damage, the largest number of any county in the state. Eagle County is next with 24,048 homes at risk, followed by Jefferson County with 23,164 homes, La Plata with 21,637 homes and Douglas County with 20,827.
Close to three out of four homes in La Plata and Eagle counties are at risk of destruction in a wildfire, whereas closer to three out of 20 homes in Douglas and El Paso counties are at risk. About one out of 10 homes in Jefferson County could end up in the path of a fire, based on statistics on housing units from the State Demography Office.
Boulder County didn’t make the top five list in Colorado, even though residents there lost more than 1,000 homes worth around $500 million at the end of last year during the fast-moving Marshall fire, which reached deeper into the suburbs than imagined possible. El Paso County lost nearly 350 homes in the Waldo Canyon fire in June 2012.
CoreLogic said that wildfires have burned 6.8 million acres a year on average in the country during the past decade, and in three years the losses topped 10 million acres. From 1983 to 1992, wildfires consumed an average of 2.7 million acres per year.
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A separate report from Redfin found that 90% of homes built so far this decade in Colorado face wildfire risk, compared to only 23% of those built from 1959 to 1990. The 66% gap is the largest of any state, even California, which went from a 39% share of new homes at fire risk historically to 91%.
Toby Kraft, co-founder and CEO of Lakewood-based Teren, said that insurers, stung by heavy losses, have become warier about underwriting coverage in high-risk areas. California is seeing insurers walk away and Colorado may not be far behind.
“How can we be proactive? Can we get these insurers to stick with us and get comfortable underwriting these geographies?” he asked.
Teren is a “climate resilience” startup that gathers LIDAR images from planes to measure the amount of vegetation and “fuel profile” down to a very precise level. After analyzing the images using artificial intelligence, the company can generate a risk score and provide specific recommendations on what needs to be cut back and where to better protect structures in the event of a fire.
