April 27—Conditions are ripe for major wildfires in New Mexico, with overpopulation of trees, an abundance of dead or unhealthy trees and dry stands, arborist Chris Schaum said Saturday.
“We’re ready to burn; we’ve been ready to burn for a long, long time,” said Schaum, owner of Chris’ Tree Service, a tree management company based in Santa Fe.
“It’s a little dark, but at the same time I feel like we have some answers to be able to deal with this,” he said.
That answer: step up work at individual and community scales to mitigate the spread of fires, speakers said at a fire preparedness workshop Saturday at Christ Church Santa Fe.
The nonprofit Volunteer Villages of Santa Fe and the Fire Adapted New Mexico Learning Network hosted the workshop; The groups have held an annual fire preparedness workshop most years since 2018, said Ann Church, co-founder of Villages of Santa Fe.
About 50 people attended the event, a larger turnout than in the past, said Mayor Alan Webber during the opening of the event.
“We know it’s crucial. We know climate change makes the situation even more critical,” Webber said. “I think we all need to realize the importance of being prepared.”
After work groups focused on simulating wildfires around Santa Fe, assembling emergency supply kits, and hardening homes against fire, the workshop featured a panel on How wildfires affect homeowners insurance in Santa Fe and across the state. The panel included Schaum; state Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry spokesman George Ducker; and two office heads of the Office of the State Superintendent of Insurance, Melissa Robertson and Elouisa “Lou” Macias.
Across the country, insurance companies have dramatically increased premiums or pulled out of certain areas due to fire risk. The problem appears to have recently affected Santa Feans, many of whom have faced non-renewal of their policies, said panel moderator Madeleine Carey.
Schaum said he started hearing about insurance companies dropping customers around Santa Fe around 2016.
Indeed, catastrophic losses from wildfires have become a question of “not if, but when,” Robertson said. As a result, insurance companies must spread their risks and only take some policies here, some policies there – not only in areas with high risk of wildfires, but also in cities, because embers can spread fires forest, she said.
“Yes, one company may let you down, but another company is ready to pick you up,” Robertson said. She recommended that people who lose their home insurance find an independent agent — who “can give you 30, 40, 50 quotes at a time” — to compare insurers.
Although the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance cannot prescribe where insurance companies write their policies, office leaders, for about a year and a half, have devoted “90 percent” of their time to learning about the science of fire and work. one-on-one with insurers on the issue, Robertson added.
Nine insurance companies have…
