Thousands of Utahns no longer live in what the state would classify as fire-prone areas.

HB48, passed in 2025, required the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands to identify where development meets wilderness, an area called a wildland-urban interface, or WUI. The new law took effect on the first of the year.

“Because we’ve done better mapping, we have removed 160,000 people from the WUI, just on better science,” said Rep. Casey Snider, a Paradise Republican who sponsored the bill.

The law required insurers to acknowledge that people removed from the map are no longer at higher risk of wildfire — and therefore, no longer need to pay a higher premium. It also required insurance companies to explain the basis for premium hikes of more than 20% for people who live on property still included in the WUI.

It also gives people credit when they take steps to mitigate risk, like trimming branches so they’re at least 10 feet away from roofs and chimneys and removing dead vegetation, dry leaves and debris from roofs, gutters and under decks.

Snider, the House majority leader, said that empowers homeowners near potential wildfire locations to take precautions to make their homes safe, which in turn can lead to a financial incentive.

Do you live in the WUI or did you used to?

Have you created defensible space around your home or done other things to mitigate wildfire risk?

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