Wildfires tend to cause devastating damage leaving people to pick up the pieces if there's even anything left to recover, but there are measures you can take to prepare, in the event that wildfires do make their way towards your home.
Dr. Ian Giammanco, the Lead Research Meteorologist at the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IHBS) said, "It’s always great to prepare before we get to the heart of what we consider our seasons of bad that comes with these things."
The IBHS recommends using three apps to prepare your home and family for potential wildfires.
The first one is Wildfire Ready Virtual and it's available for Apple and Android devices.
It uses augmented reality to share home improvement and landscaping advice to lower the risk of a wildfire reaching your home and destroying it.
"It’ll take you through an immersive mixed reality to show you the threat that wildfire embers face around your home," said Dr. Giammanco.
Then there's the FEMA mobile app, which is available for Android and Apple devices.
It has advice on how to prepare for a wildfire, stay safe during a wildfire, and what to do after a wildfire.
Finally, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) home inventory app lets you create a record of all your belongings before a disastrous wildfire strikes.
The home inventory makes it easy for you to account for any damaged items and to file insurance claims by scanning barcodes and taking pictures of your things.
The NAIC app is available for both Apple and Android devices.
Dr. Giammanco said, "Take that action now. It’ll help reduce the anxiety and it’ll help you get involved in preparing."
The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety is a non-profit research organization whose research helps homeowners better prepare for disasters.
