Wildfire preparedness and mitigation are important concerns in our neighborhood! This page contains information on things you can do to keep your property and community safe in case of a wildfire.
This is an email sent on 10/03/25 from:
Garrett Hanson
Enso Wildland Fire Services LLC
Taos County & Village of Taos Ski Valley Wildland Fire Coordinator
575-779-0914
Good morning all,
There has been much discussion and concern revolving around home insurance and folks getting dropped due to wildland fire related issues. Yesterday I attended a WUI Summit down in Los Lunas and this topic was the focus.
Speakers included Melissa Robertson-Property and Casualty Bureau Chief at the Office of Superintendent of Insurance; Randy Verela- State Fire Marshal; Erik Litzenberg- Senior Wildland Fire Advisor for the International Association of Fire Chiefs; Hank Blackwell- Director of Wildfire Resiliency Training Center in Las Vegas NM; Ashley Dalton- Owner of Ashley Dalton Agency, LLC (she works in insurance) and Steve Hawks- Senior Director for Wildfire for the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). Allstate was also there but just staffing a booth.
Some solutions were shared but also a lot of insight was given into how insurance companies operate and where they get their information from. I will do my best to share some key notes with you all. This is gonna be a lot so hang in there.
It is worth knowing that insurance companies utilize different formulas when it comes to calculating a property owners risk and rating, so it is important to shop around and speak with multiple companies before throwing in the towel. One thing they are beginning to have in common is the use of Zesty AI, which uses AI and aerial imagery to gain precise assessments of communities and individual homes. It is much more advanced, has clear imagery and updates more often than say Google Earth does. This can be good and bad for the property owner. If you are doing everything right, this can help showcase that and prove to an insurance company that your property is in good shape. An Allstate representative said they began utilizing this tool approximately 4 months ago. Here is the link for your own research and sharing: https://zesty.ai/company
Companies are also beginning to utilize standards set out by IBHS which can be found online. Here is the link to that site- https://ibhs.org/risk-research/wildfire/
IBHS offers guidance and assistance to homeowners looking to improve their defensible space and make home improvements to help fortify their home against natural disasters. Anyone can apply and it costs $125 to have someone come out and gather information to then give to IBHS and then provide the homeowner with guidance. The individual gathering the information is NOT a wildfire professional, simply an information gatherer. This would help ensure homeowners are doing the work that their insurance company wants to see. The pro is access to a lot of resources and working with a company that can work much closer with an insurance company.
Another factor insurance companies take into consideration is ISO ratings. This is the ratings fire departments receive based on response capabilities, apparatus, available volunteers and paid firefighters, etc. A real big one though is access to water, which in our rural sub-communities can be pretty unavailable unless tanks and pumps are set up. One big problem is how to get a good communication flow and information sharing for homeowners, insurance companies, ISO, etc. If that could get solved, then everyone would be in much better shape. This is something that people well above my pay grade are looking at and can’t seem to find a solution to.
For those that have done all the necessary home hardening steps, lost insurance, shopped around and ran out of options: There is the FAIR Plan, which according to Melissa Robertson, you WILL get insured via this route. However, it is not the same level of coverage as marketplace plans. It is recognized by mortgage companies. If homes get damaged or burned, you will be reimbursed at actual cost value, not necessarily the cost to re-build and there is a cap. For more information follow this link- https://www.osi.state.nm.us/en/consumer-assistance/insurance-types/home-insurance/
Melissa also stated that her office received $10,000,000 that will be going towards assisting homeowners with not just defensible space work but home improvements that harden the home from wildfire. This could include getting a Class A roof installed, replacing an old rotting wooden deck, etc. This program is not yet up and running but hopefully will be soon. More information may be found under Senate Bill 33 which is how this got funded.
LASTLY, I was told of a workshop for Taos and Colfax county residents to discuss wildifre mitigation in Northern NM. It is part of a research collabortaion between university teams in NM and Texas, as well as the USFS. Participants will be asked to share their thoughts and experiences related to wildfire mitigation and take part in an interactive demonstration. Date and time is still being sorted out while they collect potential names to participate in this virtual focus group. Participants will receive a $100 gift card upon completion. If interested send your response to carmanmelendrez@unm.edu. They should be sending me an email with a link at some point to make it easier.
That is all folks, hope some of this helps. Share amongst your community.
Garret Hanson
Lower Des Montes Neighborhood Association 