Millcreek • Ryan Stefani and his partner can ski the hill — which backs up to Grandeur Peak — behind their house in winter, run from their front door to Brighton Ski Resort and watch cougars, bobcats, lynx and coyotes wander through their backyard.

“It’s like being out in the woods, being out in the mountains,” Stefani said — and they know it’s a privilege that comes with the risk of wildfire.

They’ve taken steps to mitigate that, including removing between 60 and 80 yards of brush on the hill and having a metal roof and composite siding instead of wood. The Unified Fire Authority inspected the property at one point, Stefani said, and only had concerns about an apple tree that hangs over a concrete wall separating the backyard from the hillside.

But there’s been no system for Utah authorities to alert insurance companies when homeowners have reduced their wildfire risk — and no statewide standards to assure insurers the work is effective.

Now, Utah is finalizing a framework for assessments that local fire departments and state employees can do to help people evaluate and address their own wildfire risk.

The program is part of implementing a bill passed last year to improve information about actual wildfire risk, including a new state outline of the High Risk Wildland Urban Interface, or WUI — areas where fires have ignited in the past, and where homes are up against or surrounded by natural vegetation that would fuel a blaze and eject a significant load of burning embers onto the developed property.

People in the wildland interface may see new fees attached to their property tax bills coming next year, to cover the cost of developing the standardized assessments of risk. They can lower those fees by arranging to have their home evaluated and doing the mitigation that’s recommended.

But insurers will not be required to drop their rates.

And, as Stefani knows, there’s no guarantee they will — despite the work he and his partner have done, their premium is still two to three times higher because of the risk.

Getting ‘credit’ for mitigation

Rep. Casey Snider, a Paradise Republican, sponsored HB48 during the 2025 legislative session because of his frustration that there was no potential way for Utahns to benefit financially if they took steps to lower their home’s wildfire risk.

“Under the prior system, you could build your home in a way that it would stand not only a wildfire but a nuclear explosion, and because it was merely geographically in a certain location, it was WUI, you could get zero credit for it,” Snider told The Salt Lake Tribune in June.

The state used computer modeling to create a new WUI map to replace those previously created by cities and counties, and its version removed 160,000 people from those zones based on “better science,” he said. He wants to help owners of the 60,000 remaining WUI parcels make effective arguments against astronomical premiums.

People can see if they’re still included online.

Evaluating ‘foundational things’

Part of HB48 established the fee to cover the new statewide assessments, said Joseph Anderson, who manages the state’s wildfire risk reduction programs for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

That was delayed, he said, but it goes into effect in January, and people could see it on their tax notice next fall.

The state is wrapping up a few things to launch the assessments, Anderson said, including finalizing a certification for local fire departments and state employees so there’s training to ensure the property evaluations are consistent.

“Whether you’re in Logan or Washington County, it’s going to be the same assessment,” Anderson said.

People can request an assessment online for someone to come look at what they’ve done to reduce their wildfire risk. There’s no requirement they do so, Anderson said, but they get automatically classed at the highest risk level if they live within the WUI and don’t get one.

The assessment is aligned with the WUI code, Anderson said, which focuses on the materials of things like the roof and siding and the first 100 feet outside a home, known as defensible space.

“Those are really foundational things that any homeowner can look at,” he said.

Anyone can mitigate risk

Mitigation isn’t just for people who are in or near the WUI.

Even homeowners outside the highest-risk areas have begun making many of the same changes.

Zachary Boyle lives in American Fork, three miles from the wilderness in any direction, but he isn’t free from what he calls “eco anxiety.”

He remembers standing on a hillside up the street in 2020 and seeing smoke from fires in any direction he looked. And the wind that drove the Palisades Fire from the wildland urban interface into the city.

Boyle took fire-safe measures even though he doesn’t live in or near the WUI. He put pavers down in places he can’t easily mow, like corners behind the shed, moved vegetation from the backyard and put covers over the gutters.

His insurance still went up recently, but not because of his wildfire risk. His previous insurer exited the Utah market and appears to have stopped home insurance altogether.

No mandate for insurers

That’s not an uncommon experience for Utahns, Anderson with FFSL said.

“A lot of homeowners in the wildfire-prone areas were losing insurance, or their rates were increasing a lot,” he said. “So part of the intent of this law was to help provide insurers with more accurate information about wildfire risk.”

The law means that if an insurer is labeling a house high risk for wildfire, it has to fall within the state boundary. But it doesn’t require insurers to lower rates, Anderson said.

Homeowners can share the lot assessment after they get one, he said, but insurers don’t have to use it or look at the state’s scoring system.

That doesn’t mean they’re worthless, said Jared Whittaker, a senior vice president at Leavitt Group, a privately held insurance brokerage headquartered in Cedar City.

He recommended people give their insurer the assessment, provide photos or a video to back it up while also cataloging all their valuables and then talk with their agent about everything from whether their limit would cover the cost to rebuild to situations where losses are and aren’t covered.

“Just take it and have it be part of that overall conversation,” Whittaker said.

Location is key, he said, and defensible space is “the most important factor” – but insurers take a holistic view of risk.

An assessment might not help lower premiums or deductible, he added, but it might mean a homeowner can actually find insurance on the standard market. No matter their insurer, he said, people should check AM Best to ensure the firm has the financial strength to pay out claims.

Location ‘way outweighs any risk’

For some Utahns, living with the risk of wildfire is inevitable.

The state recently relaunched utahlivingwithfire.org, Anderson said, to help people prepare themselves and their home and surrounding property for the possibility of a wildfire.

Stefani and his partner have taken many of those steps. They have “very little stuff we care about” in the house and have go bags ready if they have to evacuate.

They accept the risk, he said, and “feel like we won the lottery” with the wilderness and its many recreation opportunities as their backyard.

“We get to live here,” he said. “It’s a privilege for humans to live up here.”

That reward, Stefani said, “way outweighs any risk.”