Firefighters address wildfire risk, upcoming assessments and fees as homeowners navigate insurance struggles

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

SANDY — Local fire departments are preparing homeowners for what could be a volatile wildfire season this year, as they also begin to educate residents about assessments and fees set to take effect in 2027 in areas of high fire risk.

Deputy Chief Chris Aston said Sandy City Fire Department began mitigation projects in multiple areas in April and in recent weeks has been familiarizing neighborhoods and HOAs in high-risk areas with its “Ready, Set, Go!” wildfire action program.

“We’re taking time to show them how to clean those areas up and mitigate the fuels in that area to reduce the risk,” Aston said. “It’s a tinder box out there and it’s getting ready to go, so yeah, we could see some potentially dangerous, really erratic fire behavior.”

On Saturday, the department will host its annual Wildland Community Outreach Day from 9:00 a.m. to noon in the upper parking lot of the Bell Canyon Preservation Trailhead, where firefighters will further outline the wildfire hazard as well as steps to take in terms of mitigation and prevention.

Another topic that fire departments are beginning to deal with is a new state program of wildfire assessments and fees designed to increase awareness and homeowner participation in reducing community fire hazards.

Those fees—which will be collected by counties and help to cover the cost of lot assessments used to determine fire risk—are now expected to take effect in January 2027, according to Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands spokesman Karl Hunt.

According to the state’s website, the fees will initially be assessed as a flat fee based on square footage but then beginning in 2028 will also be determined based on wildfire risk from the assessments that are conducted.

The program, originally established under H.B. 48 in 2025, is expected to impact up to 60,000 homes in areas considered at high risk for wildfires.

Hunt said homeowners will be able to lower their wildfire risk score with mitigation work, thus also lowering their fee, which is expected to start in a range of $20 to $100 per year.

According to Hunt, the 2025 measure also required the division to create the “Utah Wildfire Risk Explorer” map, which is a standardized map of wildfire risk around the state.

Officials have previously said the triage scores and information about mitigation on properties may be able to help homeowners retain insurance.

In recent years, homeowners in areas of higher wildfire risk have seen premiums rise considerably or have even been denied coverage.

Grant, a Sandy resident who asked that his last name not be shared over ongoing concerns related to his retaining insurance on his property, described a nightmarish scenario of repeated insurance denials after purchasing his home last year.

“I was declined not once, twice, 3 times—I mean 6, 7,” he said during an interview with KSL 5. “I’d gone to that many different insurance companies. They all said, no, we won’t cover you, it’s too high of a risk area.”

The homeowner said insurers informed him wildfire costs associated with fires in California were impacting rates and availability in Utah, and that led him to do substantial mitigation work on his property to lower the fire risk.

“I’ve hauled out between 8 to 10 tons of debris and deadwood,” Grant said. “I’ve got a stack of wood in the back that’s 20 feet long by 6 wide by 8 feet tall of deadwood.”

He said he also had many 3-foot-tall stumps of dead trees around his property he still planned to pull out to complete the work, which has taken him months.

“(It) surprised me that it was that difficult to find just basic insurance,” he said.

The homeowner said he eventually secured insurance, but he sees the value in reducing the wildfire hazard.

“Yeah, we haven’t had a big fire,” Grant said. “(It) doesn’t mean something couldn’t happen tomorrow.”

He said he would urge his neighbors and anyone else in areas of high wildfire risk to do the proper mitigation work around their homes.

“You have to be aware of the risks that are around you,” he said. “I think it makes the community safer if people will take that time to kind of remove the fire risk before we have a fire.”