The Insured Home Program
An initiative of After the Fire USA
The Insured Home Program, an initiative of After the Fire USA
A home that can be insured. A neighborhood that can be too.
Insurers are moving toward requiring proof that homes and neighborhoods are hardened against wildfire. The standards exist. The market has not caught up. We translate the standards into plain language and connect the people who have to act on them: homeowners, contractors, retailers, insurers, and the press.
An insurer presents its minimum standard for insurability to a room of recovery leaders. The requirement is already written. Homeowners and trades are the ones who have not seen it.
15+ Fires
of recovery experience across four states since 2017
$6 Billion
in tax relief for disaster survivors that we helped deliver
One Network
that already includes survivors, officials, and the private sector
WHY THIS PAGE EXISTS
The demand is coming. The demand is not here yet.
Today there is little market pull for hardened homes. Homeowners do not ask for it, retailers do not stock for it, and many contractors have no reason to learn it. Insurance requirements will change that, and the people who have to respond will need to be ready before the notice arrives.
WHAT IS TRUE NOW
Standards such as the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home program, Zone 0 ember-resistant rules, Class A roofing, and Firewise USA exist and are written for specialists. Most homeowners and many trades have never seen them in plain language.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
We turn the standards into plain language and connect the people who need each other. Homeowners, contractors, and store buyers will be ready before an insurer asks.
OUR ROLE
We translate, we teach, we connect.
This is what After the Fire USA does best, and it is where we will put our effort.
TRANSLATE
Turn IBHS guidelines and insurer requirements into language a homeowner, a clerk, and a crew lead can use the same day.
EDUCATE
Publish guides, checklists, and talking points for each audience, grounded in what survivors learned the hard way.
CONVENE
Bring insurers, building trades, retailers, and survivors into the same room, and into the same group chat.
BUILD THE NETWORK
Introduce the people who need each other, then step back so the new business and partnerships can grow.
We do not train contractors, and we should not. We amplify the need for training and partner with the organizations that deliver it.
START HERE
Content built for each person who touches the home.
Know what your insurer will ask for
Plain-language guides to what makes a house insurable, in the order that gets the most protection for the least money.
- The Zone 0 rule and what it means for your first five feet
- Roof, vents, gutters, windows, and decks, ranked by priority
- A worksheet to walk your own home before an adjuster does
- How your street fits into a neighborhood that can be insured
From our resource library
Start with our Zone Zero and Harden My Home handouts.
Be the contractor homeowners can find
We do not train. We make the demand visible and point you to the programs that do.
- What insurer and IBHS requirements mean for scopes of work
- Where to find training through our workforce partners
- Messaging you can use with clients who do not yet know they need this
- Introductions to funders, insurers, and neighborhood programs
Building Trades Opportunity
Work with the California Community Foundation and other partners is creating openings for new trade businesses. This is where we tell that story.
Stock for the requirement before it arrives
The first retailer to make hardening easy to shop for owns a new category. We give you the messaging and the shelf concept.
- End cap and aisle-header concepts for home centers, local hardware stores, and online
- Plain labels that link a product to a standard
- Co-branded guides at point of sale
- Seasonal timing around fire season and insurance renewals
Where This Meets the Market
Home Depot, Lowe's, local hardware stores, and Amazon all reach homeowners at the moment of decision.
Reach the homeowner before the notice does
Insurers need a trusted voice that speaks to survivors and communities. We have walked this ground for nine years.
- Partner on homeowner messaging that explains requirements without fear
- Join a delegation to a fire-affected community
- Present at a convening alongside trades and retailers
- Support neighborhood-level programs
Delegations
Insurance delegations bring carriers face to face with the communities they cover.
A source who has seen it before
Story ideas, spokespeople, and background on insurability, hardening, and what survivors wish they had known.
- Press kit and plain-language explainers
- Survivor voices, with their dignity intact
- Connections to insurers, trades, and standards bodies
In the News
Our work has been covered by the Washington Post, NBC News, NPR, and others.
FOR RETAILERS
A shelf that says "insurable."
A concept to bring to home centers, local hardware stores, and online marketplaces. Products are grouped by the home’s first five feet, roof edge, and openings, because that is how an insurer thinks about risk.
Harden Your Home
Before Fire Season
ZONE 0
Noncombustible ground cover, metal edging, ember-resistant mulch alternatives
VENTS
Ember-resistant vent covers and mesh
ROOF EDGE
Gutter guards and noncombustible gutters
OPENINGS
Weatherstripping, screens, window upgrades
Header, signs, and a take-home guide are supplied by After the Fire USA. Concept only.
How we help a retailer
- Write the signs, shelf talkers, and take-home guide
- Match each product category to the standard it supports
- Introduce store buyers to insurers and trades who want the demand
- Tell the story to the press when a store goes first
Home Centers
Local Hardware
Lumberyards
Online Marketplaces
CONVENINGS AND PARTNERS
Where insurance, trades, and the private sector meet.
CONVENINGS
Standards such as the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home program, Zone 0 ember-resistant rules, Class A roofing, and Firewise USA exist and are written for specialists. Most homeowners and many trades have never seen them in plain language.
INSURANCE DELEGATIONS
Small groups of carriers and experts travel to fire-affected communities to see recovery firsthand and learn what comes next.
TRADES MESSAGING
We turn the standards into plain language and connect the people who need each other. Homeowners, contractors, and store buyers will be ready before an insurer asks.
WHY WE ARE CREDIBLE HERE
We have walked it. We know who needs to talk.
After the Fire USA grew out of the 2017 North Bay fires and now carries lessons across 15+ fires. We know what survivors faced when they tried to rebuild and insure. That makes us a translator people trust.
JOIN THE NETWORK.
Tell us who you are and what you need. We will send the right guide and make the right introduction.
Gifts to After the Fire USA fund the guides, convenings, and introductions on this page.