WindTL: Changing Wildfire Risk and Liability Management for Utilities and Insurers

Utilities face escalating wildfire liabilities due to aging infrastructure, extreme weather, and regulatory scrutiny, resulting in billions in legal costs, settlements, and risk mitigation investments. While proactively shutting down power during high-risk conditions can prevent utility-ignited wildfires, utilities must carefully balance service reliability and fire risk—a decision that often places them in a legal and operational dilemma.

Validating Ember Spread with WindTL: A Breakthrough in Wildfire Investigation

During a live demonstration with the Contra Costa County Fire Department, WindTL analyzed the Tennis Club Fire (Oct 27, 2019), which ignited due to a power line failure. While the utility company admitted fault for the first fire, it denied responsibility for a second fire one mile south, citing that its power lines were off in the affected area.

Fire investigators suspected wind-driven embers as the cause, but the true ignition source remained unclear—until now. WindTL simulated historical wind, terrain, and fuel data, confirming a high likelihood of ember ignition at the second fire’s location.

This case is a breakthrough in scientific wildfire validation, demonstrating how WindTL can not only predict fire behavior but also reconstruct past fire dynamics with high accuracy.

The Need for Science-Based Decision-Making in Wildfire Risk Management

Wildfires pose an enormous risk to utilities, insurers, and commercial property owners, forcing them to make critical decisions on:

• When to de-energize power lines to prevent ignitions.

• When to evacuate buildings based on real-time fire risk.

• How to mitigate fire spread and protect infrastructure.

However, these decisions often lack clear scientific backing, leaving utilities in a legal gray area—either preemptively cutting power and causing economic disruption or keeping power lines active and risking fire ignition.

WindTL: Science-Driven Wildfire Risk Intelligence for Utilities

With WindTL, utilities companies now have science-based decision-making tools, providing a much clearer understanding of the probability and severity of utility-ignited wildfires.

Wind conditions are inherently unstable, with shifting gusts, sustained winds, and terrain-driven turbulence all playing critical roles in ember transport. WindTL’s advanced modeling engine accounts for these variables through:

• High-Resolution Meteorological Data – Integrates past and real-time weather data from NOAA, local stations, and custom sensors.

• Dynamic Wind Field Simulations – Adjusts fire spread models based on terrain-induced wind shifts, obstructions, and turbulence effects.

• Gust Factor and Wind Persistence Analysis – Incorporates variations in wind intensity to accurately model ember trajectories and sustained transport distances.

By factoring in these complex variables, WindTL goes beyond simplistic wind modeling—offering a scientifically validated approach to predicting ember behavior in real-world conditions.

A Game-Changer for Utilities, Insurers, and Property Owners

The Tennis Club Fire case sets a powerful precedent, proving that data-driven fire modeling can:

• Resolve liability disputes with scientific accuracy

• Validate risk mitigation actions for utilities and insurers

• Enhance infrastructure protection against wildfires.

For Utilities

• WindTL provides clear insights on where and when preemptive shutoffs should occur, reducing liability risks while maintaining service reliability

• Its real-time wildfire risk intelligence ensures infrastructure can be proactively shut down to prevent ignitions.

For Insurers

• WindTL delivers scientific evidence of fire causation, helping differentiate between ember-driven ignitions and infrastructure failures.

• Enables forensic fire analysis, reducing fraudulent claims and accurately determining fire origins.

For Commercial Property Owners

• WindTL empowers businesses with real-time, data-driven insights on when and where power shutoffs should occur to prevent fires.

• Provides predictive insights on evacuation timing and risk mitigation, ensuring infrastructure shutdowns happen before embers pose a threat.

Conclusion

The success of WindTL in the Contra Costa County case is just the beginning. Looking ahead, WindTL aims to:

• Partner with utilities to integrate WindTL into real-time power grid risk assessments

• Work with insurers to implement best mitigation procedures and develop a standardized fire liability verification framework.

• Enhance public-private collaboration by expanding partnerships with fire departments, emergency response teams, and city planners to proactively reduce wildfire risks.

With wildfire liability costs projected to exceed $100 billion in the next decade, WindTL is the solution that utilities, insurers, and commercial entities need to stay ahead of fire risks and legal exposure.

📢 Interested in learning more? Contact us today to see how WindTL can help safeguard critical infrastructure, prevent wildfire disasters, and drive data-driven decision-making.