Canadian insurers, adjusters pour into Slave Lake, Alberta to aid in wildfire recovery efforts

Insurance company and independent adjusters continue to pour into the area of the Town of Slave Lake, Alberta to aid displaced residents and help in recovery efforts, after wildfires have consumed much of the of the town since before May 15.
Roughly 7,000 residents in Slave Lake have been ordered to evacuate. Alberta put up $50 million on May 18 to assist evacuees in finding find temporary lodging, since the area remains unsafe.
As of May 18, approximately 87 wildfires were burning in Alberta, 23 of which were out of control. Seventeen of the out-of-control wildfires raged in the Lesser Slave Lake Area.
The Slave Lake wildfire has burned about 2,000 hectares of land. A second wildfire along the south shore of Lesser Slave Lake is out of control and has burned approximately 30,000 hectares of land.
In total, active wildfires in Alberta have burned 191,000 hectares of land – more than the area burned over Alberta’s entire 2010 wildfire season. More than 1,000 firefighters have been dispatched to douse the flames.
The damage in Slave Lake is already being compared to the record-setting damage caused by a 2003 wildfire in Kelowna, B.C., which cost insurers about $200 million.
In a statement to the media on May 17, Slave Lake Mayor Karina Pillay-Kinnee estimated “hundreds of homes and businesses have been damaged or destroyed by the fire.” In addition, critical infrastructure like water, power, gas, telecommunications and health services are not yet in place for residents to return.
Intact Insurance opened three mobile claims centres in Athabasca, Westlock and Edmonton as early as May 17. The three centres, located south-east of Slave Lake, are staffed with community response teams to help customers begin the claims process and start to get their lives back on track.
“Intact Insurance is handing out emergency funds for accommodation, food and clothing and providing comfort kits filled with everything from colouring books to pet food,” the company notes in a press release.
Three independent adjusting firms have all deployed catastrophe response teams to the area.
McLarens Canada deployed claims adjusters from its Calgary and Edmonton branches to the town of Slave Lake. They are coordinating with insurers and their brokers to respond to their clients’ losses, which include major commercial losses, homes, automobiles, and contents as well as smoke and wind damage, boat, RV and multiple other types of losses.
Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. announced on May 19 that it had secured a temporary office location in Slave Lake. This will accommodate the adjusters deployed to the area to assist with the damage and devastation being caused by the wildfires.
“Once we receive safety clearance, we will move our adjusters into the temporary office location, and will maintain possession of this site for as long as necessary,” said Crawford & Company (Canada) CEO John Sharoun. “We continue to monitor the situation and deploy adjusters to the area as required. We are also responding quickly to the many claims we have already received.”
Cunningham Lindsey also has adjusters standing ready for deployment to Slave Lake. “We have initiated our CAT response plan to respond to the events in Alberta and to ensure adequate adjusting resources are available to meet the needs of our customers,” said Cunningham Lindsey’s national CAT coordinator Mike Morris. “Furthermore, we’ve appointed Lisa McCabe as regional CAT coordinator to coordinate efforts on the ground in Slave Lake in addition to providing a single point of contact for our customers.
“In compliance with the Alberta Superintendent of Insurance, we have submitted the names of our adjusters who will be part of the initial response team. Should additional resources be required, we have a number of other adjusters from within our organization that can and will be deployed.”
Meanwhile RSA Canada’s mobile claims response vehicle and claims representatives are on the ground near the Athabasca Regional Multiplex in Athabasca, Alberta, where many evacuated families from Slave Lake are currently residing.
RSA is encouraging families and business owners from Slave Lake to start taking an inventory of their homes, cars and businesses.
“As insurance experts, we come into people’s lives at the worst possible times, and our job is to get them back on their feet,” says Irene Bianchi, senior vice president of RSA Canada. “One of the best ways to get back to normal is to start making lists as soon as you are able – this is central to getting the claims process going. And don’t forget the small things! Many people forget things like bedding, vacuum cleaners and hairdryers.”