Wildfire risk has evolved into a shared, systemic challenge, one shaped by the actions of homeowners, utilities, private property owners, and public entities, yet often unevenly distributed in its financial consequences. When those contributing to exposure are not bearing the cost, mitigation efforts stall and market pressures build.
In this session, explore how escalating losses are driving insurers to tighten underwriting, raise premiums, and reduce capacity, and why this represents a fundamental market disruption, not a temporary cycle that will self-correct. Then connect those dynamics to practical risk control strategies, from vegetation management and defensible space to infrastructure hardening and early detection technology, and examine how mitigation efforts are reflected in underwriting and pricing decisions.
Leave with a clearer framework for evaluating insurability considerations, understanding how misaligned incentives are accelerating market disruption, and applying risk control strategies that better align risk creation with risk-bearing, supporting more stable coverage outcomes and more resilient communities.
Key Takeaways:
- Understand how wildfire risk is shaped by every player in the ecosystem — and why that changes how you approach it.
- Identify where misaligned incentives are driving the problem and what that means for mitigation efforts.
- Navigate a tightening insurance market with a clearer picture of what's driving carrier decisions.
- Apply targeted risk control strategies that can reduce losses and support long-term coverage stability.
Presenters:
Ariel Jenkins, CPCU, AIDA, CSP, MBA, ARM-E, ARM-P
Assistant Vice President - Risk Control
Safety National
Ariel Jenkins is assistant vice president of risk control at Safety National, where he is responsible for leading and directing technical risk control content, managing the client services team, and overseeing risk control resources associated with public entity multi-line insurance coverages. Jenkins joined Safety National in 2006, serving as director of risk control before being promoted to his current role in 2019. Prior to Safety National, he worked as a technical loss prevention consultant for a major insurance carrier, where he also served as a district safety consultant at the largest ground transportation company in the U.S. He began his career as a safety consultant for the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations in the Division of Workers' Compensation.
Jenkins holds a Master of Business Administration from Lindenwood University and a Bachelor of Science in industrial safety management from the University of Central Missouri. His professional designations include the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Associate in Risk Management (ARM), Associate in Insurance Data Analytics (AIDA), and ARM specializations in enterprise-wide risk management and risk management for public entities. He is also a member of the American Society of Safety Professionals.
Kitt Doucette
Co-Founder & President
Wildfire Insurance Solution Hub
Kitt Doucette is co-founder and president of Wildfire Insurance Solutions Hub, a technology platform and wildfire risk analysis provider dedicated to connecting wildfire mitigation and community resilience actions with insurance availability and cost. Focused on community outreach and homeowner education, the organization works to increase transparency and trust between insureds and insurers, creating a new paradigm to help the insurance industry understand, price, and value proactive risk management actions taken by homeowners and their communities.
A fourth-generation insurance professional, Doucette brings an entrepreneurial background that includes work as a writer, editor and journalist, as well as co-founding an adventure travel company and a brewery in southern Costa Rica.