Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Colorado fire impact on insurers unclear

Reprints
Colorado fire impact on insurers unclear

As firefighters in Colorado and adjacent states continued their weeklong battle Friday to quell a devastating outbreak of wildfires, state insurance officials said it could be weeks before they have a full view of the damage done.

As of Friday morning, 624 homes and commercial properties had been reported damaged or lost in fires concentrated in High Park, Waldo Canyon and Estes Park, said a spokeswoman for the Colorado Division of Insurance.

Meanwhile, catastrophe modelers and insurance executives said it was too early to know the extent of insured losses for the region as a result of the fire. As of Friday, Newark, Calif.-based risk modeling firm Risk Management Solutions Inc. reported that the Waldo Canyon fire was just 15% contained.

The Waldo Canyon fire began June 23, and had burned as many as 15,500 acres—more than 24 square miles—including some suburban neighborhoods near Colorado Springs by the end of the week.

“We're really not sure what the extent of the damage is, because in all of these areas there are obviously severe restrictions on who can go in and out,” said Bill Oklesen, vp and director of property claims at Kansas City, Mo.-based Lockton Cos. L.L.C. “It's going to be very difficult for anyone to determine what the real scope of loss is until these fires are out and we have a chance to get back in there, and that could be weeks away.”

Indeed, RMS noted in its report that although weather forecasts indicated favorable conditions for battling the fire, full containment of the blaze could take two or three more weeks.

A second fire, concentrated in the Fort Collins suburb of High Park, had burned some 87,000 acres—nearly 136 square miles—and was 85% contained as of Friday. Firefighters indicated that they expected to have that fire contained over the weekend.