FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. – Lawmakers in Fort McMurray have approved a plan to help prevent destructive wildfires such as the one that ravaged the community in 2016. The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo council says the five-year mitigation strategy includes…
As British Columbia has declared a state of emergency due to wildfires burning out of control throughout much of the Interior, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is encouraging policyholders to discuss policy limits with their insurer. Most home and…
Canadians evacuated from their homes because of wildfires can expect to suffer an average of $11,300 in financial losses, a recent study from Square One Insurance Services Inc. has found. Those with home insurance can recover most, but not all,…
The Government of Alberta has announced it is providing $15 million a year for its FireSmart program, up from $3.8 million last year, to help communities boost their wildfire protection activities. FireSmart uses preventative measures to reduce wildfire threat to…
The present Canadian approach to wildland/urban interface fires requires a “radical and sweeping strategic shift,” the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) said in a newly released report into the Fort McMurray wildfire. The final report was titled Why some…
CALGARY – A dramatic loss scenario around disaster events is developing globally, contributing to a widening gap between insured and economic losses, Alex Kaplan, senior vice president of global partnerships for Swiss Re, suggested earlier this week during the RIMS…
Surviving homes in otherwise decimated neighbourhoods of Fort McMurray hit by this spring’s massive wildfire were more resistant to ignition by embers, notes a preliminary report issued by the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR). Home survival is not random…