Wildfire Risk: How to Protect Your Business

Depending on the conditions, wildfires can spread at a speed of up to 14 miles per hour. For a Seattle real estate leader caught unaware, that may be too fast to escape without any impact to the business.

If your business is tied to a specific location, it can be even harder to protect your business from harm. With warmer temperatures and drier conditions across the United States – especially in Central Washington, Oregon, and California – there’s an increased chance of wildfire hitting the Seattle community and your business.

There are steps that Seattle business leaders can take to protect their organizations and their employees, and those who do so will recover more easily. Protecting your business from wildfire comes from two main sources: proactive risk mitigation strategies and insurance precautions.

Wildfire Risk Mitigation Strategies for Businesses

Wildfires can create serious damage for businesses. Even if your business isn’t hit directly, a supplier or client who is affected can also impact your ability to do business.

Risk mitigation efforts can go a long way toward protecting the organization as a whole, often leading to 3x quicker recovery times and 10x less expenses incurred.

Consider these risk mitigation strategies:

• Raise Awareness. Sign up for alerts from national or regional services to be sure you know when a wildfire is heading your way. Share the information with your employees and team members so everyone can be prepared.
• Stock Supplies. Create an emergency supply kit with water, non-perishable foods and first aid necessities. Consider including N95 masks to minimize smoke inhalation. Make sure your managers and other leaders know where the supplies are on site.
• Strengthen the Building. The next time you need to do building repairs or maintenance, consider using fire-resistant materials on the structure. These are non-combustible materials that slow the spread of fire and help prevent structural failure of the building for a period of time. 
• Prepare a “Safety Zone.” Minimize damage to your place of business by removing all combustibles from within a 30-foot area around the space. Pay special attention to chimneys, stovepipes, and overhead lines. This gives the fire a chance to turn away from the building.
• Create an Emergency Plan. A complete fire emergency plan should include not only appropriate fire exits, but also specific assigned responsibilities for leaders and a communication strategy to share information. Organizations should have regular drills so everyone has a chance to practice and familiarize themselves with emergency practices. And savvy business leaders will update these plans with lessons learned.

Insurance Protections

Risk mitigation strategies are helpful, but disasters can happen to anyone. In fact, wildfires can spread very quickly, leaving little time to get any of your most valuable assets – human or otherwise – out of the building. And recovering after a catastrophic event can be nearly impossible without financial support.

Work with your expert advisor or broker to secure appropriate insurance policies, including:

•  Commercial Property Insurance to rebuild or repair your building, replace the contents of the building – whether it’s office furniture or tools and machinery – and remove debris.
• Business Interruption Coverage is an add-on that can help you cover ongoing costs such as rent or payroll during a shut-down. It can also reimburse you for profits you would have earned if you were still open for business.

Whatever protections you choose to secure, be sure to make copies of the documents and save them in a protected place, so you will still have the information even if your business is impacted by wildfire. And be sure you review the risks and renew the policies annually to make sure they are in effect when you need them most.

About the author

Austin Beebe is Senior Vice President of Commercial Insurance at Hub International Oregon.