Insurance company brings in private personnel to protect homes from wildfires

This year, Saskatchewan had one of the worst starts to the wildfire season in years, declaring a state of emergency at the end of May.

Not only were provincial fire crews out battling the flames this year, but a private company was out protecting property as well.

For the first time, SGI Canada contracted with Wildfire Defense System (WDS) to extend its work to the company’s insured properties in Saskatchewan.

When the Shoe Fire was at its height, about 10 WDS field personnel, who are all trained wildland firefighters, were dispatched to Saskatchewan, with some deployed to Candle Lake. WDS said they were in the province for about 10 days, protecting just under 100 properties that were being threatened by the flames.

Scott Eskwitt, a spokesperson for WDS, said the company’s workers perform wildfire intervention services.

“We engage in interventions that are designed to simply harden the home for the two to 10 minutes that it takes for a wildfire to come through, and protect the property from embers,” explained Eskwitt.

He said the work included moving combustibles away from a home, cleaning out the gutters, removing deck furniture and taping up openings in the house.

“In the vast majority of cases, structures burn in wildfires from the inside out, not necessarily from the outside in. Embers can get into the house, and then they start burning,” explained Eskwitt.

The crews don’t actively fight the fire. Eskwitt said they back away from the area once they’ve done what they can to protect properties. Once the fire has passed through, they’ll check the properties and deal with hot spots and make sure the property is secure.

Eskwitt said the company has a 99.7 per cent survivability rate for any property it goes to.

He said WDS always coordinates with the local authorities when the crews are going into an area to make sure everyone knows what’s going on and stays safe. WDS only works with insurance companies, and doesn’t contract for individuals.

The company just started working in Canada last year, in B.C. and Alberta.

SGI Canada, in a statement, said WDS came to its attention during the fire that roared through and devastated Jasper last summer. It said that WDS crews protected 518 properties, and only had one loss.

Last summer was the worst season on record in Canadian insurance for weather losses, according to SGI.

“Given their track record and recent expansion of services to Saskatchewan this year, we felt the time was right to partner with WDS,” the SGI statement read.

Wildfire Defense System appears to be getting comfortable in Canada – it’s established an office in Leduc, Alta., and is hiring local field personnel there. Eskwitt said the expansion was related to insurance companies seeking out the company’s services.

“We had Canadian insurance companies that approached us because their properties were burning and they saw the need,” he explained.

Eskwitt emphasized that WDS’s service doesn’t replace home owners making their own properties fire safe, and it isn’t a substitute for public firefighting resources – it’s just a complement.

SGI said it’s using WDS as an added layer of protection with its current insurance coverage.