Homeowners are the most important factor in reducing risk in Arizona. The reduction of risk is the necessary element to lowering insurance premiums in our state. There are many community mitigation tools and personal mitigation tools to address the wildfire issue. Homeowners are encouraged to become involved in community mitigation organizations such as Firewise USA®, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs, the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH), or you can contact your local Fire Department/District to find out about community mitigation efforts in your area and also undertake as many personal mitigation efforts at your property as possible. If every homeowner does their part, the likely result would be significant risk mitigation, increased availability of homeowners insurance, and decreases in the overall cost of insurance. 

Additionally, homeowners should carefully evaluate the benefit of filing claims for losses they could cover themselves, leaving homeowners insurance to cover catastrophic losses. This may be a different thought process than in years past, but a new paradigm is required due to circumstances affecting the cost and availability of homeowners insurance.