For the first installment of our series The Insurance Dilemma, we’re exploring the intersection of insurance and wildfire risk. Living With Fire Director Christina Restaino and Outreach Coordinator Megan Kaye sit down with the Deputy Commissioner of the Nevada Division of Insurance to discuss growing concerns about how wildfire risk is affecting insurance affordability and availability in Nevada.

Restaino highlights that rising costs go beyond affordability, saying, “It's becoming an environmental justice issue.” She explains that with the increasing cost of living, housing, and insurance, the question becomes, "How can we afford to live? Home prices are at an all-time high, interest rates are very high, homeowners' insurance is very high, and you start thinking—who can afford to live here?"

Todd Rich shares the Division of Insurance’s foundational mission: “to protect consumers in their dealings with insurance carriers.” He explains that wildfires became a significant challenge for insurance companies in 2017, and “science really hasn’t caught up to what the carriers are doing yet.” Companies are still adjusting models for where and how they write coverage and are not fully accounting for communities’ pre-fire mitigation efforts. Rich adds, “Carriers aren’t really giving credit yet, and they’re not giving credit for communities that have done a really good job.”

• For more information visit the consumer section of the Nevada Division of Insurance website at https://doi.nv.gov/Consumers/
  
  
• Here are consumer insurance tips from Todd Rich:
  • Know Your Agent Options: Understand the difference between independent agents and captive market agents. Independent agents can offer policies from multiple insurance carriers, while captive agents represent only one carrier. Exploring both options can help you find the best coverage for your needs.
    
    
  • Understand Your Policy: Carefully review the specifics of your insurance policy to ensure you’re aware of what is and isn’t covered. Pay special attention to whether smoke damage is included, as this may vary between policies and carriers.

Key topics: 

• The danger faced by a significant portion of Nevada's population during disasters due to challenges and limitations
• Disparities in outcomes between individuals with disabilities and those without during disasters
• Necessity to incorporate accessibility from the outset in designing emergency programs and systems
• Collaborative efforts in Nevada to address disparities for individuals with disabilities and access needs post-disasters

In the Episode:
In the latest episode of the Living With Fire Podcast titled "Wildfire & the Whole Community," host Megan Kay and Living With Fire Manager Jamie Roice-Gomes delve into the critical need for inclusivity and accessibility in disaster preparedness. Expert guests Heather Lafferty and Kimberly Palma-Ortega shed light on the challenges faced by individuals with Access and Functional Needs (AFN) during emergencies and the necessary steps to ensure their safety and well-being.

Drawing from real-world examples, Lafferty and Palma-Ortega describe the complex challenges faced by individuals with disabilities and those who have AFN during disasters. They also underscore the substantial disparity in outcomes between those with disabilities and those without. For example, Lafferty explains that 70% of deaf people who are evacuated during a disaster reported living in unsanitary conditions a month after the disaster as opposed to just 7% of individuals who are not deaf. 

Lafferty, the Coordinator for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, as well as AFN at the Nevada Division of Emergency Management, points out that even though only 28% of Nevadans identify themselves as having a disability, a considerably broader demographic – roughly 67-70% of the state's population – have varying levels of AFN. Lafferty emphasizes that as a result, "a significant portion of Nevada's population is in danger of facing these challenges, limitations, and hurdles during a disaster."

Palma-Ortega serves as a Public Health Liaison at the Nevada Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities. She emphasizes that in order to improve outcomes for people with disabilities and access and functional needs, emergency managers must incorporate accessibility from the outset when designing programs and systems, rather than treating accessibility as an afterthought. “Instead of making [accessibility] an add-on, put it as a build-on,” Palma-Ortega explains. 

In Nevada, collaborative efforts are addressing disparities in outcomes for those with disabilities and access needs after disasters. Among the initiatives recently launched is the Nevada Access and Functional Needs Disaster Coalition, a comprehensive workgroup encompassing government organizations, NGOs, private industry, and disability community partners. Their efforts focus on inclusive planning alongside the disability community, shifting from designing for them to designing with them.

Resources:

• Emergency Response for People Who Have Access and Functional Needs: A Guide for First Responders
• Health Information Binders
• Living With Fire Evacuation Checklist

With a winter characterized by substantial precipitation and robust vegetation growth in the Great Basin, many are curious about the implications for the upcoming fire year.

On Episode 13 of the Living With Fire Podcast, Christina Restaino, Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, engaged in a discussion with Joe Smith, a research scientist at the University of Montana, and Jeremy Maestas from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, about the connection between rain, snow, and fire risk in the Great Basin.

Smith and Maestas are part of a team of researchers who have developed a new tool to predict wildfire probability in the Great Basin. This tool incorporates historical data and current conditions to provide fire probability maps, offering valuable insights for Land Managers in the region.

Maestas highlighted the impact of the increased vegetation growth, explaining, “All this growing vegetation production is going to build up out there and there's no amount of livestock and insects in the world that are going to eat it all. So, it'll build up on the landscape and probably show up next year in the fire probability maps."

Discussing the natural wet and dry cycles that characterize the Great Basin, Maestas and Smith shared their findings. Smith's research, based on 32 years of data, shed light on the implications of these patterns for potential fires. "We should be particularly concerned when transitioning from a wet cycle to a dry one," Smith advised.

What does all this mean for Great Basin residents? Restaino suggested a proactive approach, emphasizing the importance of creating defensible spaces around homes and collaborating with the community. This preparation will help residents stay vigilant in the face of potential fire risks in the coming year.

Resources:

·       Great Basin rangeland fire probability tool

·       A Homeowner’s Guide to Cheatgrass

·       Be Careful! Cheatgrass is extremely flammable!

·       Fire Adapted Communities: The Next Step in Wildfire Preparedness

Wildfire is a vital ecological process, but it can be dangerous. It’s also a tangible reminder of how our climate is changing around us. Therefore, living in areas impacted by wildfire can be stressful on many levels, and individuals may experience eco-anxiety –  or even eco-grief –  in response.  

On the latest episode of the Living With Fire Podcast, guest Caitlyn Wallace, LCSW, unpacks these terms and talks about ways to address feelings about wildfire and climate change. According to Wallace, “Eco-anxiety is the anxiousness and the worry about the changing climate and what might happen. And eco-grief is the sadness and grief at the loss of life – human, animal and plant life – that you anticipate to come.”

Wallace, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist in Northern Nevada, specializes in perinatal mental health and the emerging field of climate-informed therapy. She treats patients experiencing pregnancy, postpartum depression and anxiety, infertility, grief and loss. Wallace explained that some of her clients were also experiencing eco-anxiety and eco-grief. 

“I started noticing in some of my clients this grief and guilt around – I work so hard for this baby, I tried so hard for this baby. The baby is here. And now I am guilty and ashamed because there’s a pandemic, there’s smoke, there’s this warming climate and we’re in a huge drought. What did I do? Why did I bring a baby into this world?” said Wallace. 

On the podcast, Wallace explained that anxiety and grief show up differently for everyone. Therefore, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for dealing with eco-anxiety and grief. However, she emphasized the importance of acknowledging feelings and experiences. 

“I think that a big thing is being able to name it and being able to talk about it. Yeah, we know enough to know that for a lot of these things. Specifically, depression, anxiety, that being able to talk about your feelings around them gets you out of a fight-or-flight reactive place and into a place where you can be more responsive.”

Wallace speaks about the benefits of finding a space to talk about the feelings of eco-anxiety, such as a Climate Café modeled after Death Cafés. According to the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America, a Climate Café is “an informal, open, respectful, confidential space to safely share emotional responses and reactions related to the climate and environmental emergency.”

Wallace is one of the only climate-informed therapists in Northern Nevada and has started hosting free Climate Cafés in Reno, which you can read about in Our Town Reno. And, to learn more about eco-anxiety, check out Wallace’s suggested reading list below:

• A Guide to Eco-Anxiety: How to Protect the Planet and Your Mental Health, by Anouchka Grose 
• Generation Dread, by Britt Wray
• Turn the Tide on Climate Anxiety: Sustainable Action for Your Mental Health and the Planet, by Megan Kennedy-Woodard and Dr. Patrick Kennedy-Williams
• Earth Emotions: New Words for a New World, by Glenn A. Albrecht

As a program coordinator for Oregon State University Extension's Natural Resources Education Program, Yasmeen Hossain, Ph.D. supports educators by providing educational resources in environmental education. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic and destructive wildfires have been impacting the lives of many in the west, including students. Consequently, Hossain noticed that the educators she worked with were asking for tools and resources to help support students who may have personal experiences with these potentially traumatic events. To fill this need, in 2021 Hossain published the Trauma-Informed Toolkit. A Resource for Educators.

“I kept wanting to have some kind of written document, like a resource document that I could give them before the workshop, or that they could come back to after a workshop. And I couldn't find one that encompassed everything I wanted them to have at their fingertips. And so at some point, I was like, Well, I guess I just got to write it myself,” said Hossain. 

Wildfire can be very stressful, and it’s possible for children and adults to experience a trauma response related to wildfire, for a variety of reasons as Hossian explains. “So the topic of fire wildfire it is has a lot of potential to activate our nervous system to again create that overwhelming out of control feeling that we might have. And the reason for that is because of the magnitude and the impact that it can have on our lives.”  

Hossain emphasizes that when someone is experiencing a trauma response, especially a child, it is more important to help them manage their stress than to try and explain why it is happening. “So really knowing about and utilizing tools and strategies and information to help them balance their nervous system again, and boost their resilience.”

To learn more, check out the resources below: 

·         Trauma-Informed Toolkit

·         Wildfire Evacuation Checklist

·         Living With Fire

Wildfire smoke can seriously impact humans' health, but scientists have discovered that it can also affect the health of ecosystems. On the Living With Fire Podcast, Professor Sudeep Chandra, director of the Global Water Center at the University of Nevada, Reno, talks about how scientists have been working to understand these impacts on Lake Tahoe's aquatic ecosystem. 

Stakeholders in the Tahoe Basin have been working for decades to “Keep Tahoe Blue,” and have been trying to control algae growth in the lake. Chandra explains that one direct effect wildfire smoke can potentially have on the lake is stimulating algae growth.  

"So just like Miracle-Gro has a nice combination of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to grow our garden plants, it turns out smoke has a ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus. Sometimes it's optimal, and sometimes it's not," explains Chandra. 

In addition to providing nutrients for fertilizing algae, Chandra explains that smoke can also affect the amount of light hitting the lake, potentially reducing the amount of ultraviolet light, which kills algae cells. 

With wildfires occurring more frequently and becoming more intense, Assistant Professor Christina Restaino, director of the Living With Fire program, explained what it's like for scientists working in fire right now. 

"We're entering this new era of no analog experiences, where these ecosystems are experiencing this smoke every single year or fire every single year. We don't have an analog from the past to understand that. So yeah, it's exciting, and it's really unknown."

To learn more, check out the resources below: 

•  Caldor Fire impact on Lake Tahoe’s clarity, ecology studied amidst ongoing wildfire season
• Global Water Center
• Living With Fire

We're excited to bring you Season 2 of the Living With Fire Podcast. Here's a little preview of what to expect. 

On August 3, 2021 the City of South Lake Tahoe’s city council approved their new wildfire evacuation plan. Clive Savacool, Fire Chief with South Lake Tahoe Fire and Rescue, led the effort to draft the new plan, not knowing that it would be put into action for real a few weeks later when the Caldor Fire would threaten South Lake Tahoe.

On Episode 9 of the Living With Fire Podcast, Chief Savacool talks about writing and executing the evacuation plan. "When I was putting it together with help from others, I honestly never envisioned putting it into play on my own, during my career," Savacool explains.

But, on August 30, 2021 at 10:59 am, the very active Caldor Fire was spreading toward South Lake Tahoe. As a result, agencies began evacuating people. About 22,000 people were issued evacuation orders and told to leave their homes.

Later that night, the Caldor Fire crossed Echo Summit and entered Christmas Valley, a secluded community about 10 miles away from South Lake Tahoe. Amanda Milici, the Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities coordinator, lives in Christmas Valley. Milici described how she and her partner were evacuated twice, first, to her partners' parents' home in South Lake Tahoe, where they were required to evacuate again, less than 24 hours later.

"We kind of thought we would at least have a couple days there, you know? We had no idea how fast the fire was moving, and then the next morning, probably just like 12 hours later, we evacuated from the city." Milici explains.

The Caldor Fire evacuation was a massive operation. Chief Savacool described some of the challenges involved in such an effort and how agencies in Tahoe worked together to make it happen. “We all recognize that we can't handle a major incident our own and we recognize that the community is what matters. And so we have to make sure we're doing right by them versus our own interests,” said Savacool.

• For more information about preparing for wildfire in Lake Tahoe visit TahoeLivingWithFire.com
  
  
• Have you listened to the Living With Fire Podcast? Fill out the Living With Fire Podcast Survey at bit.ly/LivingWithFirePodcastSurvey

Funding for this podcast was provided by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1994 in cooperation with the Tahoe RCD & University of Nevada, Reno Extension, an EEO/AA Institution. 

 Cutting your own Christmas tree is more than a fun way to get outdoors and create lasting memories. On the latest episode of the Living With Fire Podcast, we cover the ins and outs of cutting your own Christmas tree with Jennifer Diamond, Fire Mitigation Specialist with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Carson City District, and Tessa Putz with the University of Nevada, Reno Extension. They explain how cutting your own Christmas tree can help restore Nevada's rangelands and thin-out overgrown landscapes, reducing the risk of high-intensity wildfire. Diamond also shares how to get your permit, what the rules are and some tips for cutting your tree on BLM lands in Nevada. Learn more below. 

• To purchase a permit to cut a Christmas tree on Bureau of Land Management land in Nevada go to https://forestproducts.blm.gov/
  
  
• To purchase a permit to cut a Christmas Tree in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest go to https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/htnf/home/?cid=FSEPRD564027

We interviewed August Isernhagen, Division Chief of Wildland Fuels with Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue, about his career as a wildland firefighter. Isernhagen shares some highlights and challenges he's experienced along the way, as well as some tips for residents, if they ever come in contact with wildland firefighters. "Approach them as a trained professional. This is what they chose to do as their trade and show them that respect, in their expertise, for what they know," said Isernhagen.