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Preparing Arizona houses for wildfires can save them. Here’s why and what to do

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Preparing Arizona houses for wildfires can save them. Here’s why and what to do


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  • Arizona homeowners are facing soaring insurance costs and difficulty obtaining coverage due to the increasing risk of wildfires.
  • Wildfires are no longer a seasonal threat, and mitigation efforts can help protect homes and communities.
  • Insurance experts recommend creating defensible spaces around homes by clearing vegetation, using fire-resistant materials and maintaining roofs and gutters.

Arizona home insurance costs are soaring, and a growing number of homeowners near wildfire risk areas can’t even get insurance.

Wildfires are a big driver behind the state’s growing home insurance problems.

The Southern California fires make it clear wildfires are no longer seasonal, and the devastated area’s losses likely mean higher rates for Arizona property owners.

Wildfires aren’t just a rural problem. Metro Phoenix has had its share. In 2005, the Cave Creek Complex Fire that started in north Scottsdale burned 243,950 acres.

Many homeowners in both rural and urban areas can do more to protect their homes and communities from fire.

“Fire mitigation is key for protecting homes,” said Lori Munn, deputy director of insurance in the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions, which formed the Resiliency and Mitigation Council to address wildfire damage prevention, home insurance problems and high costs.

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Pricey home insurance, frustrated homeowners

Arizona led the nation for the biggest increase in home insurance costs between 2019 and mid-2024, according to one survey.

The Resiliency and Mitigation Council is working on getting updated information on average policy costs.

Mark Perkins’ insurance premium on his Phoenix house near South Mountain skyrocketed more than 200% from $2,500 to $7,600 last year.

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“They (the insurer) said there was a 35% increase in rates across the board in Arizona, and the rest was due to perceived increase in fire risk,” he said.

He said the “desert there is pretty sparse” near his house.

Perkins switched insurers and kept his costs close to what they had been the previous year.

Insurers aren’t supposed to pass costs from natural disasters outside Arizona to Arizona homeowners.

“We don’t allow insurers to use losses on a hurricane in Florida to raise rates in Arizona,” said Tom Zuppan, property insurance analyst at the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions.

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But that’s hard to regulate.

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The Republic

Homeowners jumping through ‘a lot of hoops’ for lower insurance rates

Since 1990, the number of Arizona houses in Wildland Urban Interface areas, known as WUIs, has more than doubled.

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Those areas, where development and vacant land meet, are at high risk for wildfire, said Bill Boyd, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

He said fire mitigation efforts are key to addressing Arizona’s home insurance problems.

New River homeowner Mark Dorsey recently “jumped through a lot of hoops” to get his insurance renewed.

He had to provide distances from his home to fire stations and hydrants, and photos of all sides of the house after cutting a lot of brush and trees to create a “buffer zone.”

“It was pretty nerve-wracking,” Dorsey said.

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Some Maui and Southern California homeowners, who protected their homes with the right building materials and cleaned up weeds and other vegetation, were able to save their houses.

In the 2013 deadly Yarnell Hill Fire near Prescott, 60 homes with brush cleared around them survived while more than 500 others were destroyed. Arizona began funding wildfire mitigation work after that fire that killed 19 firefighters.

What homeowners can do to mitigate wildfire risks

Some insurers may be more willing to cover houses if the owners try to reduce wildfire risks, say insurance experts.

There’s no data yet on how effective mitigation work is in lowering rates or retaining a policy, but the Mitigation Council is also working on getting that.

Insurance and fire experts say mitigation efforts are important not just for individual property owners. Communities should work together on mitigation, they say, because embers move quickly from home to home, driving wildfires like the ones in the Los Angeles area.

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Several groups and government agencies offer mitigation guidance, including Firewise USA, FEMA, the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes and local fire departments.

Kate Stillwell, co-founder of the app Firebreak Risk, which identifies homeowners’ biggest wildfire risks and provides solutions, said mitigation work can be overwhelming for property owners and expensive.

She said DYI mitigation work costing $200 or less that homeowners can do on weekends is the most popular.

Fire mitigation strategies homeowners can undertake include:

  • Keep yards clear of flammable debris.
  • Move firewood away from structures.
  • Build with fire-resistant material, including composite, clay, metal, brick and concrete.
  • Limit flammable plants and trees within 100 feet of the home, which is considered the standard space needed to defend from a wildfire.
  • Trim branches that overhang a home, porch or deck.
  • Get dual-paned, tempered glass windows.
  • Remove flammable materials from carports.
  • Keep roofs and gutters free of leaves and pine needles.

But mitigation is tough for some homeowners to maintain, and it doesn’t always help get a property insured or lower rates.

Randy Scott owns a Pinetop home and said a lot of trees near his community were cut down in efforts to stop or slow fires.

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Despite those efforts, he said his community’s insurance policy wasn’t renewed in 2023. To get insurance, the annual premium quadrupled from $50,000 to $200,000. The new policy also provides less coverage.

“The previous insurer said it wasn’t renewing because of our wildfire rating,” said Scott, who is president of his community’s homeowner association. “It’s hard to have to tell residents they can’t grill on their patios or store their fireplace logs outside.”

Reach the reporter at catherine.reagor@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8040. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @CatherineReagor.



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2026 NFL draft: 3 potential trades back from No. 3 for Arizona Cardinals

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2026 NFL draft: 3 potential trades back from No. 3 for Arizona Cardinals



Since the Arizona Cardinals want to trade back from the No. 3 picks, here are three deals that could work.

The Arizona Cardinals have the third pick in the 2026 NFL draft, which begins this week on Thursday. All the reports coming out are saying that they want to trade out of the pick to acquire more draft picks.

But what does a trade look like and who could be involved?

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The Kansas City Chiefs are involved in talks at some level. ESPN’s Adam Schefter expects trade talks to heat up this week.

NFL teams use a variation of a trade value chart when it comes to draft picks. Now, what a team actually is willing to give up can be influenced by potential competition with other teams, but we can’t count on that.

Here is the general trade value chart teams use.

Here are some potential deals that could be done.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs have two first-round picks, which would be appealing to the Cardinals, who reportedly want to make a move for quarterback Ty Simpson, and the 29th pick might be just the spot to get him.

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The third overall pick is worth 514 points.

The Chiefs’ picks at No. 9 (387 points) and No. 29 (202 points) together are worth 589.

To make up the difference, the Cardinals could give up No. 65 (78 points) for a total of 592 points.

One deal could be:

  • Cardinals receive get No. 9 and No. 29 (589 points)
  • Chiefs receive No. 3 and No. 65 (592 points)

Another could be:

  • Cardinals receive No. 9, No. 29, No. 74 and 2027 third-round pick (653 points + value of future third-round pick, which is 36-78 points)
  • Chiefs receive No. 3 and No. 34 (689 points)

The Cardinals keep their third-round pick and the Chiefs essentially move back five spots from No. 29.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys have the 12th and 20th picks but no pick in the second round.

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Pick No. 12 is 347 points and No. 20 is 269 for a total of 616.

This deal is close:

  • Cardinals receive No. 12, No. 20 (616 points)
  • Cowboys receive No. 3, No. 65 (592 points)

New Orleans Saints

The Saints are perhaps a dark horse to move up, although they do not have two first-round picks. They have the No. 8 pick, worth 406 points. Their second-round pick, at No. 42, is worth 142 points.

This deal could work:

  • Cardinals receive No. 8, No. 42 (548 points)
  • Saints receive No. 3, No. 104 (547 points)

Then the Cardinals could use their two second-round picks to then move back into Round 1 to get Ty Simpson.

They could trade No. 34, No. 42 and No. 65 (395 points) for No. 28, No. 38 and No. 106 (398 total points).

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Dust returns to Phoenix area after hazy weekend – KTAR.com

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Dust returns to Phoenix area after hazy weekend – KTAR.com


PHOENIX — Breezy winds kicked up a blanket of dust across the Valley on Sunday, and forecasters say more is on the way this week.

Visibility in Phoenix became so bad on Sunday that Sky Harbor airport stopped flights for over an hour

The wind and dust peaked Sunday afternoon and gradually improved into the evening, said Michael Graves, an air quality meteorologist with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

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“You might’ve seen the mountains a bit obscured in the distance,” Graves told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Monday. “A lot of haze in the air.”

By Monday morning, skies had largely cleared and dust levels near the ground had dropped significantly.

Expect more gusty, dusty days this week

The relief may be short-lived.

ADEQ is watching for increased afternoon breezes Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, this time from the west and southwest. Though the winds are expected to be weaker than Sunday’s, Graves said forecasters cannot rule out dust.

“I wouldn’t say windstorm,” Graves said. “I would just say we’ve got some waves coming in. They’re going to increase our afternoon breeziness.”

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It’s enough to kick up dry, exposed dirt, which could create pockets of dust. There is a slight chance of broader regional dust transport, Graves said.

It will impact people with asthma, COPD or respiratory conditions the most. Graves advised those with issues to monitor conditions and stay indoors during the dustiest hours.

“If you’re going to be outside, be outside during the times when it’s less dusty or hazy,” Graves said.

Graves noted that spring weather systems typically pass to the north of the Phoenix area, delivering wind and slight temperature drops but little to no rain, a pattern likely to continue.

KTAR News reporter Kellen Shover contributed to this report.

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Trying to beat the heat: Addressing rising temperatures in Southern Arizona

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Trying to beat the heat: Addressing rising temperatures in Southern Arizona


The University of Arizona and Tucson are known for yearlong warm weather, but when is it too much? With temperature reaching record highs in March, the city of Tucson has already reported increased temperatures for this year. 

In the wake of the third annual Southern Arizona Heat Summit, integrating voices throughout the City of Tucson, community stakeholders and experts from UA gather to speak about possible solutions and policies to address rising temperatures and extreme heat. 

The summit strives to ensure that the lived experiences of Southern Arizona residents are voiced. The first summit commenced in 2024, in response to the declaration of an extreme heat emergency in Arizona by Gov. Katie Hobbs, as part of a larger plan called Arizona’s Extreme Heat Response Plan. 

With representation from organizations such as the American Red Cross, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, Arizona Jobs with Justice, Tucson Indian Center and many more, the summit emphasized the importance of the perspective and concerns of stakeholder groups throughout the community. 

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The summit included a variety of UA experts, including faculty representing the School of Geography, Development and Environment; the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy; the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.

One particular project, led by Ladd Keith at the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning, is a part of the Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory, which is funded by the United States’ Department of Energy to explore extreme heat throughout Arizona. SW-IFL works in collaboration with other national laboratories including those at ASU and NAU. 

The team works to analyze extreme heat in the southwest and rural areas, and how communities deal with heat by conducting interviews. The team has also prescribed policy to Pima County and the City of Tucson regarding more effective strategies to combat rising temperatures, such as green stormwater infrastructure. 

Anne-Lise Boyer, a post-doctoral researcher with the Climate Assessment for the Southwest, shared that the team particularly analyzed extreme heat in three parts: heat mitigation, heat management and heat governance.

Mitigation deals with prevention through strategies such as green infrastructure and planting trees, while management includes cooling sensors and heat warning systems. Governance allows these measures to be enacted through policy.

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In Tucson, some of the most meaningful work the team has engaged in has been drafting the City of Tucson’s Heat Action Roadmap in 2024, which outlines goals to mitigate and mandate extreme heat and its impacts while prioritizing community voices.  

The goals of the roadmap include informing and educating citizens of Tucson on the adverse effects of extreme heat and cooling people’s homes and neighborhoods by incorporating heat risk in regional planning. These steps are essential to practicing heat management, especially as the city of Tucson grows. 

“I think the most interesting thing about being based in Tucson is that because the heat has been here for a long time, it’s like a laboratory in itself,” Boyer said. “We have all this research and all this collaboration happening with local actors because it’s a pressing issue in Arizona.”

As the annual heat summit recurs, new ideas and perspectives continue to be shared throughout the community. Boyer shared that this year, the Southern Arizona Heat Summit focused on the youth perspective, highlighting middle school and high school students and how heat impacts their everyday lives. Many students spoke about how heat shaped their lives at home, school and sports.

“That’s one of the goals, to have community members participate and give their input in how they wish the city will deal with the heat,” Boyer said. 

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Boyer and Kirsten Lake, a program coordinator for the SW-IFL team, also shared how the impacts of extreme heat impact some neighborhoods and communities in Tucson more than others, and that their research often evaluates these factors to determine where heat management efforts would make the greatest impact.

“Its important when you’re putting into effect some of these measures, that you make sure you put it where it’s going to make the biggest difference,” Lake said.

The work of the SW-IFL team is not just locally known. The Brookhaven National Lab based in New York deployed a specialized truck to Tucson to collect information on the atmosphere and rising temperatures. The SW-IFL team hosted the Brookhaven team.

Additionally, Keith’s work has led to a guidebook called “Planning for Urban Heat Resilience” which focuses on the adverse effects extreme heat poses to marginalized communities across the country. 

“It is so different from place to place and neighborhood to neighborhood because you have to take the whole context into account,” Boyer said. “They recommend first to document the heat impacts in your communities.”

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