Wildfires are no longer seen as seasonal in most of Colorado as the Marshall Fire in Boulder lost over 1,000 homes between Christmas & New Years in 2021.
Colorado has witnessed the devastating impact of wildfires, with four of the state's largest wildfires occurring in the past four years. Fires in 2020 and 2021 led to the destruction of nearly 1,500 structures, causing an estimated $3.3 billion in insured losses. In addition, two people were killed in the 2021 Marshall Fire.“If you live in the Wildland-Urban Interface (W.U.I.), which 2.5 million people in Colorado do, it's not a matter of if, but when”
OUR SERVICES
Wildfire Risk Assessments & Wildfire Mitigation
Wildfire Risk Assessments & Solutions
in the Wildland-Urban Interface
“As a home buyer, know if the property you’re about to buy is properly fire mitigated before committing to purchasing a home. It should be part of your due diligence as a home buyer in the Wildland-Urban Interface.”
A study commissioned by state lawmakers found that 76% of insurance carriers decreased their exposures in Colorado in 2022 because of devastating wildfires, leaving the five largest insurance companies to dominate the market.
Here's a couple recent articles in the Durango Herald that detail what's happening in the insurance industry regarding homeowners insurance in Southwest Colorado:
Durango residents at a loss as homeowners insurance becomes harder to find
Denial of coverage, higher premiums make Southwest homeownership unaffordable
The insurance companies that are still writing policies, have underwriters that are now inspecting policy holders homes & property for wildfire risk. According to Allstate Insurance, 8 out of 10 properties do not pass inspection. Insurance companies generally provide between 30 to 90 days to complete their scope-of-work to bring the property into compliance with wildfire mitigation guidelines or lose your homeowners insurance.
Our work has been approved by the largest homeowners insurance companies in the U.S.
If you’re a homeowner or looking to buy or sell a home, have us complete our Wildfire Risk Assessment of your home and property. Our inspections and reports use the same criteria as the most critical insurance underwriters. Our mitigation work has saved homeowners from losing their insurance and being forced to purchase expensive high-risk insurance. Or even worse, being forced into foreclosure as losing your insurance triggers breach of contract with your mortgage lender. In some cases, we can even challenge an underwriters assessment which can save you thousands of dollars in mitigation work.
“WE HAVE A 100% SUCCESS RATE AT SAVING HOMEOWNERS FROM LOSING THEIR INSURANCE”
Our Comprehensive Home Hardening & Defensible Space Assessment Includes:
A determination regarding if the home & property would comply with wildfire mitigation guidelines and if it could possibly pass or fail an insurance underwriters on-site inspection. We know this because…
…We use the same criteria that the most critical insurance underwriters use when performing an on-site inspection. If an insurance inspector does perform an on-site inspection, it should be seen positively, because that means the insurance company is going to the extent to perform an inspection rather than just cancel your insurance.
Our inspection covers more than just defensible space as insurance underwriters now include the home and other structures in the inspection. We stand out in the wildfire mitigation industry because not only do we create defensible space surrounding your home, we can also perform retrofits of your home to comply with standards for high fire risk areas.
If your home & property isn’t up to compliance with wildfire mitigation guidelines, we provide a detailed scope-of-work to bring your home & property into compliance. If it is up to compliance, you’ll receive our detailed assessment, proving it is.
If there is work to be done, we’ll provide an estimate on the cost to perform the prescribed mitigation. Costs generally range from less than $2,000 to over $10,000. Good to know if you’re having the assessment done as pre-purchase due diligence.
The cost for the Assessment is $349
To Schedule a Wildfire Risk Assessment : 970-880-4669
Serving All of La Plata County to Pagosa Springs in Southwest Colorado
Durango, Bayfield, Pagosa Springs, Hesperus, Hermosa to Purgatory
WILDFIRE MITIGATION
We use Colorado State Forest Service (C.S.F.S.) guidelines, backed by N.F.P.A. and I.B.H.S. science. If you are under an insurance demand or a grant prescribed scope of work, we can provide a free estimate on the scope-of-work provided. If you are not under an insurance demand, we can create a custom plan, with your input, to fire mitigate your property, stay within your budget, and give you the best bang-for-your-buck.
We can also create a plan, based on your budget, to fire mitigate your property starting from hardening your home to working out into your property reducing forest fuels, and do it in stages over time to fit your budget.
We’re a C.S.F.S. listed Forestry & Mitigation Contractor. Our work has been approved by both State Farm and Allstate Insurance Companies. We have successfully completed work on grant recipient properties throughout La Plata and Archuleta Counties. And, we have a 100% success rate as saving homeowners from losing their insurance.
Services:
Planning & Mitigation
Home retrofits that meet standards for high fire risk areas
Creation of defensible space landscaping around your home
Tree removal & trimming
Gambel oak & brush removal
Slash pile creation
Chipping
Hauling
Free Consultation & Estimate For Wildfire Mitigation : (970) 880-4669
Serving All of La Plata County to Pagosa Springs in Southwest Colorado
Durango, Bayfield, Pagosa Springs, Hesperus, Hermosa to Purgatory
Before & After:
The gambel oak was so thick it represented a worst case scenario for fire to spread from the ground into the trees and right to the home. We cleared the gamble oak, thinned and trimmed trees out to 70-100 feet from all structures.
Before & After:
Providing the homeowner with a park like experience for their property while removing tons of forest fuels. When done right, wildfire mitigation is landscaping and beautifying a property while providing wildfire defensible space around your home and property.
Before & After:
Another extreme fire hazard on 1-acre which would not pass an insurance inspection. We removed over a dozen crowding trees and the gambel oak undergrowth.
Before & After:
Wildland fires can move in any direction. However, they generally prefer to move uphill. In total, we removed 58% of the crowding trees and 85% of the ground and ladder fuels (mostly gambel oak) on this sloped property. Bringing this property into insurance compliance.
“Terry and crew were great to work with. He is incredibly knowledgeable about code and fire mitigation. They worked hard, completed the job in a day and left the yard clean and we would hire him again anytime!”
