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Canadian insurer rolls out pilot to assist in wildfire home protection
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Wildfires are already burning in parts of Western Canada and with
warnings of a particularly active season yet again this year, the
country's largest property and casualty insurer is testing a pilot
project to help eligible Canadians protect their homes.
Intact Financial Corporation on Tuesday announced a partnership with
Montana's Wildfire Defense Systems to provide eligible Albertans and
British Columbians with loss prevention and suppression services when
their homes are threatened by wildfires less than five kilometres
away.
If a fire gets that close to the home, trained fire personnel will
undertake tasks including the removal of materials around the property
that could fuel a fire — like firewood or propane tanks — and covering
exterior vents and closing exterior windows and doors. The crews may
also set up temporary sprinkler systems, which would potentially
temper fire activity nearby, but also fire retardant if necessary to
prevent further damage to a home.
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Rosa Nelson, vice-president of sales and business development, Alberta
and Prairies, at Intact, told Global News the crews will be provided
by Wildfire Defense Systems and come from across the border, but
stressed they were not concerned about the location as they "mobilize
very, very quickly."
Crews will also determine if a threat has subsided, and will put back
items that were previously removed.
0:28 Wildfire risk high in Manitoba
"It really is an opportunity for us to help with this climate change
adaptation problem that we're all struggling with today," Nelson told
Global News.
The pilot program is set to last throughout the 2024 wildfire season.
Anabela Bonada, climate science director at the University of
Waterloo's Centre on Climate Adaptation, said several of the tasks are
"FireSmart measures," often done by firefighters. This program could
take some of that weight off their shoulders.
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"If a company's going in and doing that themselves, that's freeing up
those firefighters to go and protect other infrastructure," she said.
Intact Prestige and Intact Insurance home policy owners in B.C. and
Alberta within the eligibility area will have the Wildfire Defence
Systems added automatically without any additional cost this season;
however, it will also apply to those with Belairdirect policies.
Nelson added that customers would not see any increase to premiums
either. In the two provinces, the project area involves those
customers in Alberta below the 57th parallel line — which begins at
Fort McMurray — and those in B.C. below the 56th parallel, which runs
across the northern part of the province, being able to access the
service.
That assistance may be needed as Canada has already seen dozens of
wildfires burning in just the past month.
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The B.C. Wildfire Service says there are currently 108 active
wildfires, though just two per cent are considered out of control,
while the province of Alberta says there are 38 active fires.
Early in April, the federal government and Environment Canada warned
they were "preparing for the worst" with early projections indicating
above-normal fire activity even in the spring months as a result of
drought forecasts. ****
5:22 B.C. preparing for a challenging wildfire season
That warning came after Canada saw its worst season on record last
year, with 18.5 million hectares of land burned.
Intact touts the program as the first of its kind in the country,
specifically deploying fire prevention professionals to a location.
However, there are other companies like Wawanesa Insurance that also
work on fire prevention in their own way, such as providing grants for
communities to become more climate-resilient.
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Bonada said she'd like to see more programs like Intact's become more
widespread.
"For us to really deal with any of these climate perils, but
definitely wildfire, it's a whole of society approach," she said. "So
everybody has to do their part."
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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