Worsening Conditions
Seven of California's ten most destructive wildfires1 to date have burned since 2015.
The Problem
A New Era of Destructive Wildfires
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Wildfire Season has extended by 71 Days since 1970.
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Fires are now both Fuel and Wind Driven, spreading faster than ever before.
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Wildfires are moving into neighborhoods and homes are burning.
Property Destruction
The eleven fires since 2018 on CAL FIRE's Top 20 list destroyed 47,000+ structures1 between them.
California's insurer of last resort is exploding in size. New and renewed FAIR Plan policies grew from 141,192 in 2016 to 324,954 in 20232, and the plan reported 696,562 policies in force in June 20263 as private insurers retreat from wildfire-exposed areas.
Systemic Insurance Collapse
Non-Renewals Hit 16%2 in the Highest-Risk Counties
Non-renewals and cancellations run near 10% of policies statewide and reached 16.3%2 in the ten counties with the most homes at high wildfire risk in 2023. As fires grow larger, more frequent, and increasingly destructive, insurers are retreating from high-risk areas.
FAIR Plan Exposure Passes $768B3
As policyholders are pushed out of the private market, the California FAIR Plan has grown to $768 billion in insured exposure3 (June 2026) - and the 2025 Los Angeles fires triggered a $1 billion emergency assessment4 to support claims payments.
What it means to protect a home in California is Changing...
Sources: CAL FIRE, CAL FIRE Top 20, CA FAIR Plan, CA DOI
Embers Are The Threat
Embers Cause 60 to 90%5 of Home Ignitions
Arrival
Wind-driven embers can travel up to 2 miles ahead of the main fire front, reaching a home long before flames arrive.
Ignition
Once they land, embers can ignite the most vulnerable parts of a property - including roofs, vents, gutters, decks, fencing, mulch, and surrounding vegetation - turning small ignition points into full structure fires.
Hardening Alone Is Not Enough
Passive Defense has hit a Ceiling of Effectiveness
Gaps in Protection
Embers accumulate in hidden vulnerable zones. They can lodge in roof transitions, gutters, vents, fencing, mulch, and dry vegetation surrounding the home.
Responder Delays
During wildfire events, roads close, chaos, resources, stretched thin, making it difficult for firefighters to arrive on time or at all.
Passive Defense Shortfalls
Passive measures are an important first step, but they still leave too much to chance. Wildfire behavior is unpredictable, and ember landing patterns can create hidden ignition points that passive protection alone cannot fully prevent.
The Layer Hardening Leaves Out
Exterior sprinklers add that operational layer, helping interrupt ember-driven ignition when the home is under active exposure.
In the Ham Lake Fire, all but one structure with a working sprinkler system survived, and 72% of threatened structures that survived had working sprinklers6.
Sources: Ready For Wildfire, IBHS, Ham Lake Report
This Effects You
Make a Change that makes a Difference
For Homeowners
This is Personal.
A home is far more than a building. It is the center of daily life - where mornings begin, families gather, and memories are made. It is also the largest financial investment most people will ever make. Wildfires do not just threaten the structure - it puts a family's stability, belongings, and future on the line.
For Insurers
Risk ≠ Reward
The Math Is Broken. The 2017 and 2018 fire seasons cost insurers nearly twice the underwriting profit of the previous 26 years7. As wildfire losses grow more severe and less predictable, insurers are being forced to pull back, raise premiums, or search for more measurable ways to reduce property-level risk.
For Builders
Resilience Is Essential
Homes in wildfire-prone areas need to be designed and upgraded with modern fire behavior in mind. That means thinking beyond code-minimum hardening and implementing exterior sprinkler systems into new builds for maximum protection.
Active Risk Reduction is the Missing Piece
Exterior sprinkler systems Actively Mitigate Risk so You and your Insurer can feel Protected.
Exterior sprinkler systems use water and retardant to wet ignition-prone surfaces before embers can take hold and spread into the structure. By applying a protective layer across the parts of the home most vulnerable to ember attack - including roofs, vents, gutters, and perimeter fuels - they help reduce the chance that a small ember becomes a major structure fire. That is where active defense changes the equation: not by replacing hardening, but by adding a protective layer during the moment it matters most.
Sources: CA DOI Market Update, CA FAIR Plan, CA OSFM
Protection Starts Here
Get Protected today before the next Red Flag Warning.
Sources
- 1. CAL FIRE, Top 20 Most Destructive California Wildfires (2025-10): Structures destroyed: Camp (Nov 2018) 18,804; Eaton (Jan 2025) 9,413; Palisades (Jan 2025) 6,833; Tubbs (Oct 2017) 5,636; Tunnel–Oakland Hills (Oct 1991) 2,900 on 1,600 acres, 25 deaths; Cedar (Oct 2003) 2,820 on 273,246 acres; Witch (Oct 2007) 1,650 on 197,990 acres; Woolsey (Nov 2018) 1,643 on 96,949 acres; CZU Lightning Complex (Aug 2020) 1,490; Caldor (Sep 2021) 1,003 on 221,774 acres. Seven of the ten most destructive burned in 2015 or later.
- 2. California Department of Insurance, Fact Sheet: Summary on Residential Insurance Policies and the FAIR Plan (2025-01): New and renewed FAIR Plan policies: 141,192 in 2016, 324,954 in 2023 (3.7% of the residential market). Non-renewals and cancellations run near 10% of policies statewide and reached 16.3% in the ten highest-wildfire-risk counties in 2023.
- 3. California FAIR Plan, Key Statistics & Data (2026-06): As of June 2026: 696,562 policies in force; $768 billion total insured exposure; $2.04 billion written premium.
- 4. California Department of Insurance, Commissioner Lara approves FAIR Plan request for $1 billion assessment (press release) (2025-02): After the January 2025 Los Angeles fires the FAIR Plan requested, and the Commissioner approved, $1 billion in additional funds from its member companies.
- 5. California Office of the State Fire Marshal, Building in the Wildland (2026-09): "Remember the ember! 60 to 90 percent of home ignitions occur because of embers."
- 6. University of Minnesota, Department of Forest Resources (for the Minnesota DNR Firewise Program), External Sprinkler Systems and Defensible Space: Lessons Learned from the Ham Lake Fire and the Gunflint Trail (2008-04): "Of the threatened structures that survived, 72% had working sprinklers. All but one structure with a working sprinkler system survived the fire." (May 2007 Ham Lake Fire, ~76,000 acres, 100+ properties with sprinkler systems.)
- 7. Congressional Research Service, Homeowners Insurance and California Wildfires (IN12491) (2025-01): The 2017 and 2018 wildfire seasons are estimated to have caused insurer losses nearly twice the combined underwriting profits of the previous 26 years; seven of the twelve largest insurers limited coverage over the prior two years.