Wildfire season is near and options are limited to ensure the safety of East Mountain residents’ homes.
Due to the high risk of wildfires caused by climate change and extended drought, only a handful of insurance companies are willing to cover homes in fire-prone areas.
According to the Western Fire Chiefs Association, New Mexico’s peak fire season starts in early May and lasts until June, when monsoon season is expected to begin.
Still, due to climate change, fires can start much sooner and linger longer.
Homeowners are seeking protection and prevention, but insurance is becoming almost unattainable, especially after the California fires that burned over 57,000 acres of land this year and shifted the insurance narrative.
“I think people are realizing that with Southern California…even the city was at risk. Pacific Palisades never had a wildfire, and it burned through the whole thing this year. So there’s no excuses anymore. It has to be done, and we all have to work together to do it,” said Moriarty resident Ghanima Atrieadies, the Operations Director of Allstate Creasman Agency in Albuquerque.
According to Atrieadies, homeowners must follow strict wildfire guidelines, such as national standards like Firewise, to be insured through companies such as Allstate.
Several components must be considered when determining policy rates and coverage, specifically for homes in high-risk areas. As she explained, every step a homeowner takes to reduce a fire risk counts.
Factors such as location, fire protection services, home construction materials, defensible space, past wildfire data and mitigation efforts affect pricing and determine whether or not a property qualifies to be insured.
Even having a fire station far from the property could negatively impact homeowners.
Lacking fire protection or even the presence of fire hazards, such as propane tanks, can make a property ineligible for coverage.
Atrieadies states, “It could make the house ineligible for coverage or result in higher premiums, even if the house is made of fire-resistant materials.”
Unsurprisingly, insurance for properties in fire-prone areas is significantly more expensive, costing from $2,000 to $3,000 yearly, compared to $1,300 in lower-risk urban regions.
Atreadies explained that the goal is to price policies that reflect the actual risk while providing full replacement cost coverage if a wildfire occurs.
Adhering to wildfire guidelines, most private insurance companies demand maintaining defensible space and removing hazardous vegetation or “thinning.”
This could create the biggest challenge for most people, as clearing vegetation costs under $200 per acre, while cutting trees ranges from $500 to $2,000 per acre.
“In the long run, pay that $900 or so to have that cleared, as opposed to $500,000 when your house burns down,” Atrieadies said.
Understandably, most people are unable to finance this. This is where the New Mexico Fair Access to Insurance Requirement (FAIR) Plan comes into play.
The FAIR plan, approved in 1969, provides insurance as a “last-resort” option for those unable to get coverage in the standard market, especially those with homes in high-risk areas, if eligible.
Eligibility includes having a financial stake in the property and no history of arson. Higher premiums apply for seasonal or temporarily unoccupied properties. To be insured, local building codes must be followed, and public policies should not be violated.
Although the FAIR plans are state-mandated insurance pools, several complaints have been made that they are more costly and cap coverage at $300,000.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has spoken publicly about the issue.
In her State of the State address in January of this year, the governor proposed a state-run fire insurance program with the capacity to cover homeowners who are having trouble securing affordable insurance.
Despite initial discussions, her proposal has been postponed during the current legislative session due to funding issues and the program’s overall structure.
This initiative intends to provide coverage to New Mexicans who reside in high-risk wildfire areas where private insurance does not cover or has a high premium.
The governor emphasized in her speech that “No New Mexican should be priced out of a fire insurance policy.”
Current efforts include Senate Bill 81, endorsed by the state Office of the Superintendent of Insurance.
This bill intends to raise the coverage limits of the FAIR plan for homes from $350,000 to $1 million and make significant changes to the FAIR plan board.
Until then, East Mountain residents have been “stuck” with minimal options that are just not enough, and some are even left to push through without insurance at all.
As one resident who lost her mobile home on January 26, Tami Lucero, mentioned, “We didn’t have insurance because I didn’t have the credit score the insurance company wanted, and I didn’t have the couple thousand dollars that they wanted for a year.”
Lucero’s case was a bit different. The cause of her fire was determined to be a “faulty” lamp.
The heat lamp was used in the shed for the family’s dog, who died during the three minutes it took for their home to burn and melt.
Lucero said the heat lamp was purchased from Tractor Supply for $9. A Tractor Supply manager confirmed that these cheaper heat lamps can have defects where the wires crystallize and touch, causing sparks.
The fire investigator also reportedly confirmed this cause.
This, combined with the state’s risk factors for wildfires, is detrimental to safeguarding the residences and lives of East Mountain citizens.
In the region, residents have created different fire prevention and assistance groups and discussions offering personalized help and life-saving recommendations for various properties.
Another vital resource is to contact any local fire station to mitigate the fire once it has started and prevent it by thinning it.
“They may have wildland teams, or they can refer them to other resources,” Atrieadies said.
To reduce costs, it could also be a good idea to look for programs in the area. If the property is near national forests, the Forest Service can also help.
Exploring local options before hiring a tree service can help save considerably.
Guides like the New Mexico Fire Season: In-Depth Guide also direct homeowners to the right path to safeguard their homes and loved ones.
According to the guide, it is vital to follow fire restrictions, ensure any fire is completely out, keep tools such as fire extinguishers handy and dispose of smoking materials responsibly. The guide also provides the main recommendations for property care.
East Mountain residents have also voiced their concerns through neighborhood networking sites like Nextdoor and Facebook groups, where individuals such as April Fletcher have become essential resources for the community.
Fletcher, a wildlife biologist, promotes forest health through management and fire prevention strategies that have helped her create a “healthy” forest for 27 years.
Her husband and her have been working on their 10-acre property since 1997. After the Los Alamos fire, they dedicated most of their time to thinning their forest and “not cutting any corners.”
While her knowledge is extensive and her home efforts demanding, she prefers a collaborative approach.
“One of the things I’m trying to encourage is getting people involved in working with their neighbors. We’re very fortunate. We have good neighbors,” Fletcher said.
She also highlighted the need for legislative support and cost-sharing programs to assist people with managing their forests.
According to Fletcher, community projects, such as thinning forests to prevent fires and improving road access for fire trucks, should also be on top of everyone’s lists this season.
When asked how to tell if your property is adequately thinned, she responded, “If you can’t see through the forest, you’ve got work to do.”
Another critical issue to discuss is encouraging responsible land management among absentee landowners.
These owners buy land for retirement or investments but do not manage, maintain, or even visit it, leading to overgrowth.
Proposed solutions by Fletcher to this problem include legislative action, county laws and state intervention.
According to Fletcher, the solution is to create thinning programs for neglected properties, bill the landowners for the work, or, if necessary, fine them or force the sale of the property to responsible buyers.
To date, Fletcher has enforced various preventive measures, such as steel siding, a metal roof, and a fire-resistant landscape by exploring fire-resistant native plants.
At 80-years-old, she also installed, with the help of her older husband, water conservation systems with large rainwater tanks, filtration and freeze prevention.
She added solar panels that significantly reduced her electricity bill for energy efficiency.
“We didn’t move to the forest to live in the plains, but we want a wildfire-resistant forest, not a wildfire-proof forest,” Fletcher added.
Ultimately, she intends to promote legislative action to support the management of high-risk areas and to encourage cost-sharing programs for thinning forests.
She also raises awareness about water conservation and the importance of understanding the correlation of ecosystems.
While New Mexico’s GOP and Democrats agree the state must address the growing issue of home insurance as natural disasters disrupt the private market, East Mountain homeowners need to take all the preventative measures possible to both prevent a fire in the first place and to be able to find suitable insurance in case it’s needed.
Lawmakers from both parties advocate for state intervention to ensure affordable, accessible coverage. Still, while the market stabilizes, preparing and preventing it to the greatest extent possible is undoubtedly better.
“You sleep a little bit better because it’s taken care of, or the community outreach to take care of, not only that but other properties that are around that way to help save your whole community,” said Atrieadies. “The time is now to do something about it—we can’t put it off anymore.”