If you think Phoenix's urban landscape keeps you safe from wildfires, think again. In February 2025, the Phoenix Fire Department reported that the city has over 41,000 acres and 42,000 addresses in wildfire risk areas. These aren't remote mountain properties—they're homes sitting right where the city meets the Sonoran Desert, in what experts call the wildland-urban interface, or WUI.
Here's what makes Phoenix unique: desert wildfires behave differently than forest fires. When temperatures soar above 105°F and humidity drops below 15%—which happens regularly during spring and summer—dry brush, palo verde trees, and tumbleweeds become serious fire fuel. And your homeowners insurance company is paying attention. Arizona saw the fourth-largest home insurance rate increase in 2024, with premiums jumping 11.4% largely due to wildfire risk.
Understanding Phoenix's Unique Wildfire Risk
The Phoenix metro area faces a wildfire risk that many residents don't expect. The urban-wildland interface isn't just the obvious foothill neighborhoods—it includes anywhere native desert vegetation exists near homes. That could be undeveloped lots in your subdivision, preserved desert areas in planned communities, or wash areas running through neighborhoods.
In 2024, Arizona experienced 2,162 fires that burned more than 280,000 acres, with over 1,400 determined to be human-caused. While many of these occurred in northern Arizona's forests, the statistics highlight how fire season affects the entire state. The Phoenix Fire Department warns that risk escalates during extreme heat conditions, which are becoming more frequent and intense.
Desert fires spread differently than their forest counterparts. Instead of towering flames through tree canopies, you're dealing with fast-moving ground fires that race through dried grasses and brush. Wind-blown embers can travel up to a mile ahead of the main fire, landing on roofs or in yards and starting spot fires. This is why defensible space matters so much in Phoenix—it's not just about the fire reaching your property line, it's about preventing embers from finding fuel when they land.
How Wildfire Risk Affects Your Homeowners Insurance
The insurance market shift in Arizona has been dramatic. State Farm suspended accepting new homeowners insurance applications statewide, citing catastrophic exposure and reinsurance challenges. Nationwide has been dropping policies, particularly in northern Arizona but also in high-risk areas of Maricopa County. More than 15% of Maricopa County properties now face higher insurance prices or potential policy cancellations because of wildfire risk.
Standard homeowners insurance does cover wildfire damage—it falls under your dwelling coverage and personal property protection. But here's the catch: getting and keeping that coverage is becoming harder. Some homeowners report premium increases of 50% to 100% annually, far beyond the historical norm of 5-10% increases. And unlike states such as California, Arizona doesn't have a FAIR Plan (a state-backed insurance option of last resort), leaving homeowners with fewer fallback options if they're dropped by their carrier.
Insurance companies are using sophisticated wildfire risk models to assess individual properties. They look at your property's proximity to natural vegetation, slope, access for fire trucks, and local fire protection resources. They also examine your home's materials—wood shake roofs are red flags, while tile or metal roofs get better scores. Critically, they're checking whether you maintain defensible space. Damage from wildfires resulting from homeowner negligence—such as failing to maintain your property or preserve defensible space—may be excluded from coverage.
Creating Defensible Space in the Desert
Defensible space is the buffer you create between your home and the desert landscape. It's designed to slow or stop the spread of wildfire and protect your home from wind-blown embers. In Phoenix, this doesn't mean stripping your yard to bare dirt—it means strategic landscaping that reduces fire fuel while maintaining the desert aesthetic many homeowners love.
The basic rule is clearing flammable vegetation and debris within 30 feet of your home. This means removing dead plants, trimming tree branches (especially those overhanging your roof), and eliminating ladder fuels—the low shrubs and vegetation that allow ground fires to climb into trees. In the desert, pay special attention to dead cactus, dried palm fronds, and tumbleweeds, which are incredibly flammable.
Smart desert landscaping for fire safety includes using rock mulch instead of wood chips, spacing plants to prevent fire from jumping between them, and keeping your lawn watered and cut during fire season. Choose fire-resistant plants like agave, aloe, and ice plant for areas close to your home. Regular maintenance is crucial—even fire-resistant plants become fire fuel when they're dead or dried out.
Don't overlook your home's immediate perimeter. Clean out gutters regularly—dried leaves and debris are perfect ember catchers. Remove stored firewood, propane tanks, and other combustibles from within 30 feet of your home. Screen vents and eaves to prevent embers from entering. These seemingly small steps can make the difference between your home surviving a nearby wildfire or becoming another loss statistic.
Home Hardening and Insurance Benefits
Home hardening means making your house more resistant to wildfire. While defensible space addresses the area around your home, hardening focuses on the structure itself. In the current insurance market, these improvements aren't just about safety—they're becoming prerequisites for coverage.
The most impactful upgrade is your roof. If you have wood shake shingles, replacing them with tile, metal, or Class A fire-rated asphalt shingles dramatically reduces your risk. Many insurers won't cover homes with wood shake roofs in high-risk areas at all. Windows are another vulnerability—double-pane or tempered glass windows resist breaking from radiant heat better than single-pane options.
Consider ember-resistant vents for attics and crawl spaces, as well as fire-resistant siding materials. Even your deck matters—composite or metal decking is far safer than wood. Some private insurers will offer policies to homes in high-risk areas if owners implement comprehensive hardening measures. When communities work together on mitigation—for example, achieving Firewise certification—insurers may recognize those collective efforts with better rates or continued coverage.
What to Do If You're Dropped or Facing High Premiums
If your carrier drops you or your premiums skyrocket, you have options—though they're not as straightforward as in other states. Without a FAIR Plan, Arizona homeowners need to look to the surplus insurance market. Surplus insurers operate outside the standard insurance market and have more flexibility to cover high-risk properties, but policies typically cost more and may offer less comprehensive coverage.
Working with an independent insurance agent who specializes in high-risk properties can be invaluable. They have relationships with multiple carriers and surplus insurers, and they know which companies are still writing policies in WUI areas. They can also advise on which mitigation steps will make the biggest difference to insurers evaluating your property.
The Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions launched the Arizona Mitigation and Resiliency Council in response to the insurance crisis. While this won't immediately help individual homeowners, it signals that the state recognizes the problem and is working on solutions. In the meantime, documenting your mitigation efforts with photos and receipts can support your case when shopping for coverage.
Getting Started with Wildfire Protection
Start by assessing your property's specific risk. The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management offers a Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal where you can look up your address and see your risk level. This gives you a baseline understanding of how insurers view your property.
Next, walk your property with defensible space in mind. Look for dead vegetation, overhanging branches, combustible materials stored near your house, and debris in gutters. Create a priority list, starting with the most critical items—clearing the first 30 feet around your home and addressing obvious roof vulnerabilities.
Then contact your insurance agent. Ask about discounts for mitigation measures and whether your current coverage adequately protects you. If you're planning home hardening improvements, find out which ones will have the most impact on your premiums. Many insurers offer credits for specific upgrades, but you need to ask.
Living in Phoenix means accepting wildfire risk as part of desert life. But it doesn't mean you're powerless. Taking action now—creating defensible space, hardening your home, and securing appropriate insurance—protects both your property and your financial future. The insurance market will likely remain challenging for the foreseeable future, making proactive mitigation your best strategy for maintaining affordable, comprehensive coverage.
