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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 93 CALIFORNIA A Way Forward Amidst the Wildfires A recent webinar hosted by CoreLogic discussed the housing situation in California in light of recent wildfires. e webinar, entitled, "California Wildfires: A Way Forward," explored the Carr and Mendocino Complex Fires from 2017, which damaged more than 10,000 structures. e webinar looked back, as well as forward, considering next steps in reconstruction after what has occurred and increasing resilience to future fires. Maiclaire Bolton-Smith, a Senior Leader for Research and Content at CoreLogic, hosted the webinar. She touched on the catastrophe in Mendocino County before detailing the worst of the 2017 wildfires, especially the extent of damage in Tubbs County. Howard Kunst, a Principal and Chief Actuary of Science and Analytics at CoreLogic, gave a statistical perspective on the fires. Whereas the five-year average between 2012 and 2016 was 8,363 fires with 691,299 acres destroyed, in 2017 a total of 9,560 fires caused more than 1.2 million acres worth of damage. Kunst suggested that models have obtained a high enough degree of accuracy regulations based on their predictions will be more commonly enacted. One of these is the requirement going into effect July 2019 that mandates insurance companies discuss the likelihood of fires to customers with residential properties, as well as various strategies and costs of reconstruction. Guy Kopperud, a Principal of Industry Solutions with CoreLog- ic, focused his discussion on reconstruction and valuation. Kopperud discussed how the heated market in California continues to interfere with reconstruction efforts, and how the surge in California housing demand affects contractors and builders in the state. Rodney Griffin, Senior Leader of Product Management and Services, spoke about resilience to future fires and strategies for minimizing damage in future disasters. ese include fire-resistance ratings for construction being promoted, as well as construction with fire-resistant materials. Griffin indicated that the costs of build- ing with resilient materials can be justified by the bottom line and reduction in loss potential. Finally, Tom Larson, a Principal in Industry Solutions, closed with a focus on managing wildfire risk in the future, in the process highlighting how fires in 2017 challenged current zonation, and how different models for zoning could help manage risk. Larson showed how, if one also accounted for infrequent high winds and the latest fuel and topography models, risks could be minimized. at's crucial, considering that more than 1.7 million homes—13 percent of California's 13.6 million total homes—remain at risk today.