California’s Lara to Create a Public Wildfire Catastrophe Model

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara calls it the first of its kind in the nation. He — along with Cal Poly Humboldt — is creating the nation’s first public wildfire catastrophe model.

Florida has something similar relating to hurricanes and tropical storms.

The goal is to gather research from different areas to come up with a model that will predict future wildfire losses. The idea is to eventually create safer communities which will — in turn — expand access to insurance coverage.

Lara says it will be the department’s benchmark for “fair and accurate rates.”

Cal Poly Humboldt Dean of the College of Natural Resources Eric Riggs will serve as the chair for the strategy group and will invite researchers from different areas of the state and people in higher education to participate. Riggs said Cal Poly Humboldt and the California State University System is deeply committed to the project.

“This effort combines the collective strengths of the CSU system in forestry and applied fire science and those of other major institutions across the state to address this coupled workforce and scientific challenge,” Riggs said. “We are honored to be convening this effort to address growing risks of wildland fire for future generations.”

The overall goal is to create recommendations for a public wildfire catastrophe model that blend with the new regulations on ratemaking and catastrophe modeling that the California Department of Insurance is currently finalizing and that insurers can use to set their rates.

It will be done by December of this year.

The strategy group’s recommendations will be given to Commissioner Lara on April of next year. Those recommendations will be the next steps to take for funding, technical needs and how all this benefits the public.

“We can’t keep our Department and Californians in the dark ages when it comes to the use of technology and climate science. We are harnessing the power of California’s unparalleled academic institutions for a public wildfire catastrophe model that will be the first in the world,” Lara said in his news release. “A public model will be a benchmark for my Department to help keep insurance rates fair and accurate, a reliable source of data for local governments increasing wildfire safety, and a rich educational and career-building opportunity for students and researchers.”

Source link: California Department of Insurance — https://bit.ly/4ej3K9C