Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Walters: How Should California Confront Wildfire Threat?
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 4 years ago on
June 20, 2021

Share

Physicist Albert Einstein is widely, albeit erroneously, thought to have said that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” but regardless of its source, the aphorism accurately reflects California’s attitude about wildfires.

Year after year, destructive fires whip through communities in the “wildland-urban interface,” often killing those who cannot or will not leave their homes and causing untold billions of dollars in property losses.

The frequency and severity of wildfires appear to be increasing as our climate changes, droughts persist and greenery dries and becomes explosive fuel. What was once a relatively brief fire season in late summer and early fall has morphed into a year-around peril.

And yet, more often than not, burned-over land soon sprouts new housing whose owners and tenants once again place themselves in harm’s way.

Dan Walters

Opinion

Misguided Policies Incentivize Housing in Fire-Prone Areas

new study by UC Berkeley’s Center for Community Innovation, commissioned by the think tank Next 10, attributes this seemingly loony practice to misguided state and local policies that incentivize reconstruction in fire-prone areas.

“Wildfire threatens the lives and homes of more than one-quarter of California’s population,” F. Noel Perry, the founder of Next 10, said in a statement that accompanied the report. “We must overhaul local and state policies and planning procedures to ensure that we are not incentivizing actions that elevate wildfire risks.”

The study found that replacing current homes in high-risk areas would cost at least $610 billion and that huge number scares insurers. As they pay out huge sums to burned-out policyholders and the danger of future catastrophic losses increases, insurers either shun coverage altogether or impose steep hikes on premiums.

“With climate-fueled wildfires scorching hundreds of thousands of acres, causing the loss of life and property, wildfire insurance availability has shrunk while the premiums charged have increased,” a commission appointed by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara declared recently.

Insurance is required by mortgage lenders and many property owners, unable to purchase coverage in the private market, have turned to a statewide insurance pool of last resort that has high premiums and limited coverage.

Study Recommends an Overhaul of Land Use Policies

The Next 10 study recommends that the wildfire risk be approached by overhauling land use policies that lack “incentives to avoid building in fire-prone areas” and thus are “contributing to the persistent and increasing risk of significant economic and human costs associated with wildfires.”

Land use in California is largely controlled by state and county governments through zoning and construction permitting. The state’s housing crisis has demonstrated that those governments are often reluctant to approve high-density housing, especially that meant for low- and moderate-income renters, within urban areas.

However, as the Next 10 study points out, they tend to be more supportive of housing, especially single-family homes, in urban peripheries, which also tend to be the areas of the highest wildfire risk.

The report proposes “moving homes out of the WUI (Wildlands-Urban Interface), incorporating greenbelts and wildfire buffers, increasing density in existing commercial cores, adding gentle density in the form of ‘missing middle’ housing and accessory dwelling units to areas not in the WUI, and embracing manufactured housing as an affordable-by-design approach.”

Lara’s commission, meanwhile, suggests insurance premiums based on forecasts of future peril, rather than past experience, blanket policies that spread risk, rewards for making homes more resistant to damage and other steps that can mitigate not only wildfire impacts but the less obvious risk of destructive flooding.

Both studies underscore a fact we ignore at our existential peril: Despite its many attributes, living in California means living with constant threat of catastrophe.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.
[activecampaign form=31]

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

UP NEXT

Health Care Is a Lifeline. The Central Valley Deserves Better.

Clovis Councilmember Basgall Says He Won’t Run for Re-Election

4 hours ago

An Unknowing Fresno County Gave Community Medical $2.7M While Hospital Engaged in Kickback Scheme

5 hours ago

Arizona Governor Vetoes Bill to Ban Teaching Antisemitism in Arizona’s Public Schools

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has vetoed a proposal that would ban teaching antisemitism at the state’s public K-12 schools, universiti...

3 hours ago

Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, center, applauds for those affected by the Los Angeles area wildfires as she gives the State of the State address in the House of Representatives at the state Capitol with Speaker of the House Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park, left, and Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, flanking the governor on Jan. 13, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP File)
3 hours ago

Arizona Governor Vetoes Bill to Ban Teaching Antisemitism in Arizona’s Public Schools

Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., demands the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest while protesting outside an ICE detention prison, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, File)
3 hours ago

US Rep. LaMonica McIver Indicted on Federal Charges From Skirmish at New Jersey Immigration Center

President Donald Trump prepares to deliver remarks during a visit to Fort Bragg to mark the U.S. Army anniversary, in North Carolina, U.S., June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
4 hours ago

US Military Bases to Restore Names Changed After Racial Justice Protests, Trump Says

4 hours ago

Clovis Councilmember Basgall Says He Won’t Run for Re-Election

5 hours ago

An Unknowing Fresno County Gave Community Medical $2.7M While Hospital Engaged in Kickback Scheme

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 5, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/ File Photo
7 hours ago

Wall Street Ends Higher as Investors Track Progress of US-China Trade Talks

A bridge crane damaged by Israeli air strikes is pictured in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah//File Photo
8 hours ago

Israel Strikes Hodeidah Port, Threatens Naval, Air Blockade

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs for North Carolina at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
8 hours ago

Trump Warns Protests at Army Parade Will Be Met With Force

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend