RIO BLANCO COUNTY, Colo. (KOAA) — As one of the largest wildfires in Colorado's history continues to burn, an insurance expert in Colorado says natural disasters like this only shine a spotlight on the need to review your coverage.
As of Friday morning, the Lee fire burning in Rio Blanco County had scorched more than 133,000 acres and claimed three homes along with 12 outbuildings, according to fire officials. The Lee fire had about 10 percent containment as of Friday morning. The Elk Fire, burning to the east of the Lee Fire, had burned about 14,518 acres with 83 percent containment, after destroying two homes and two outbuildings.
Anyone wanting to help those impacted by the fires can click here to donate to the Yampa Valley Disaster Recovery Fund.
News5 wanted to know if the fires burning currently would have an impact on home insurance rates in the near future, so we turned to Carole Walker, the executive director with the Rocky Mountain Insurance Association.
"We don't have any significant property loss yet," Walker explained. "It won't have a direct impact on what you pay for homeowners insurance. However, it reflects the risk in our state. Nearly half of our population in Colorado lives in what's considered high-risk areas. We're seeing that play out in real time. So unfortunately, it does confirm to the insurance companies, as they're weighing and looking at their own risk, about which properties that they can insure, how that will affect their premium and the cost to pay out claims."
The "Wildlife Risk Viewer" through the Colorado State Forest Service puts the fire danger into perspective. Click here to view which areas are at higher risk for wildfire compared to others, as many parts of the state are considered high-intensity or moderate-intensity. The United States Forest Service has a similar map that can be viewed by clicking here.
With current fires raging and the ever-present risk, Walker says this is a harsh reminder to take a close look at your own insurance plan.
"This is the time, if you're not in the path of that wildfire... to make sure that you do a check in with your own insurance agent," Walker recommended. "Talk to them about what my coverage is, what's covered, what isn't, and then what are my deductibles?"
Walker also pointed out that the Centennial State ranks high for insurance costs compared to the rest of the country. News5 recently highlighted a report from TheZebra.com that ranked Colorado number five in the country for most expensive home insurance premiums, sitting at an average annual cost of $4,586.
"We are in this perfect storm in Colorado," Walker stated. "Of these record-breaking catastrophes happening again and again and at the same time, everything that insurance pays for is more expensive, from lumber to glass, everything that affects the cost to repair and rebuild. So as we're looking at these market conditions that are so challenging, colliding with increased risk for wildfire, increased wildfires, that's a time when, unfortunately, insurance premiums are going up in Colorado at a faster price than the rest of the country."
On top of checking in with your insurance agent, Walker said you should regularly do a home inventory, make sure you have proof of the valuable items within your home. AAA has information on best practices to document your belongings, click here for more information.
Walker says the Rocky Mountain Insurance Association has worked with lawmakers over the years to address issues tied to the claims process, along with looking at ways they can make sure the public isn't underinsured.
"We do have to be cautious when we come to the legislature, we really only are a few bad public policy decisions away from being a California," Walker said.
But the responsibility isn't just on lawmakers.
"Insurance really isn't the solution," Walker said. "Insurance is just reacting to the higher risk, the escalating catastrophic wildfire events, or catastrophic hail storms, those are things where we really have to look at insurance solutions already addressed. Some of those from past lessons learned from fires. What can we do now to reduce the risk and look at mitigation?"
One program News5 has highlighted before is Firewise USA. The program started by the National Fire Protection Association helps guide and track communities when it comes to reducing the risk of wildfires. More than 180 communities take part in Colorado. Click here for more information on how to become a Firewise USA site.
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