Recent wildfires in urban and suburban neighborhoods have made us all aware of the need to make sure we are not vulnerable to wildfire destroying our homes.
Watch the video and scroll below for useful resources and handouts from our recent monthly presentations on this topic.
Fire officials work to prevent future Arizona wildfires:
The following Resources are available:
SCOV Staying in Charge Club Presentations:
May 25, 2025 – “From Talking to Action”
This presentation offered useful tips from some of our members who have had the homeowners insurance on their home in Sun City cancelled due to fire risk, and others who have had to actually to evacuate from fires. Learn about some apps to help you monitor risks, and additional fire prevention tips for your home:
- Presentation Notes from this meeting by Linda Wickline (PDF)
- Did you Know? – Handout – a list of tips on how to deal with fire (PDF)
- Apps and Websites to Get to Monitor Fires – Handout (PDF)
- Items You Can Do to Be Firewise – handout (PDF)
- Firewise Planting Around Your Home Picture -(PDF)
- Wayne Widener’s Fire Evacuation Plan and Checklist for Sun City – Handout (PDF)
- Fire Prevention: From Talking to Action – Our May 2025 Newsletter
April 27, 2025 – “Ins and Outs of Homeowners Insurance and Fire Hazards”
This program revealed how Homeowners insurance is currently an ever-changing landscape. You cannot just keep doing “business as usual.” Literally, the wildfire situation nationwide is impacting insurance businesses and practices. Wildfires leading to urban fires near and far are increasing the cost of insurance for nearly everyone, whether you are in a wildfire prone area or not. Some insurers are refusing to renew insurance for homes located near fire-prone wildlands – including some homes in Sun City Oro Valley! There are actions you can take to lower your risks and therefore costs or find an insurer. Learn some ideas for steps you can take to help yourself. These may include changes to your physical property both inside and outside.
- Presentation Notes on Presentation given by Donna Gregory on Homeowners Insurance and Fire Hazards (PDF)
- Homeowners Insurance Resources (PDF) – A list of websites from governmental agencies and organizations that can help you understand and use homeowner’s insurance policies.
- AZ Dept of Insurance List of AZ Insurers for Forested Areas (PDF) – Because many insurers are no longer insuring homes located close to forests and shrublands, this list identifies some possibilities of those who still do.
- AZ Dept of Insurance Spring 2025 State of Homeowners Insurance (PDF) – Extremely valuable 2-page handout explaining new homeowner’s insurance issues for Arizona homeowners.
Safety Services Available from the Golder Ranch Fire District – (February, 2024) – Dan Habinek, Community Information Supervisor, Golder Ranch Fire District presented a highly informative program to the SCOV Staying in Charge Club about the services the GRFD provides, including responding to 911 calls; fire alarms and smoke detectors; fire extinguishers and fire blankets; File of Life; residential lock boxes; and fall prevention. The “File of Life” program is free and Dan presented all attendees with one to fill out and post on their refrigerator..
National Fire Protection Association:
- Preparing Homes for Wildfire
- How to Prepare Your Home for Wildfire (PDF)
- Firewise USA Program Toolkit (PDF) – Comprehensive booklet on how homeowners, neighbors, and homeowner’s associations can band together to promote fire safety.
Arizona Firewise:
Golder Ranch Fire District (Our local Fire Department for SCOV):
These evaluation forms includes site access, types and management of vegetation, percentage of defensible space on the site, site topography, class of roofing and other construction materials used on the building, fire protection water supply, and whether utilities are installed above or below ground.
Why Our Wildfire Risk in Arizona is Still Hazardous
Milder weather conditions – Unlike California, we do not experience extreme winds like the Santa Ana winds, which fuel large wildfires. But despite our milder weather conditions, years of drought and dead brush and trees can increase risk (and insurance costs) even outside more obvious fire-prone areas.
Most homes here are built with stucco siding and tile roofs rather than shake roofs, which are less prone to fire spread, but failure to properly maintain and update roofs, underlayment, or roof vents, can increase risk.
Our landscape consists of patchy desert scrub and low-to-moderate fuels, reducing the chance of widfires compared to forested areas, but brush or other burnables too close to home can increase the risk of fire, as can our frequent lightning and high winds.
In Arizona, many of our newer communities have underground utilities, paved roads, and landscaped areas that slow fire spread; but Sun City has many homes located on the perimeter of the desert that can allow fire to spread from the landscape to your home. Since we live so closely together, neighboring homes and vegetation are part of our community’s vulnerability.