Steve Hawks

Senior Director for Wildfire

Steve Hawks joined the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) in 2023 and currently serves as the Senior Director for Wildfire. In this role, Steve works to advance wildfire policy and code development, manages IBHS’s post-fire analysis research, assists with the Wildfire Prepared Home program and develops future designation program opportunities. He also serves on the Underwriter’s Laboratory Fire Safety Research Institute’s Wildfire Advisory Committee and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo WUI Fire Institute’s Advisory Council.  

Steve has over three decades of experience in wildland firefighting and prevention. Prior to IBHS, Steve spent 30 years serving in various CAL FIRE roles, from firefighter to battalion chief. He retired as an Assistant Deputy Director in CAL FIRE – Office of State Fire Marshal’s Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation Division. He also served with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) from 1989 to 2022 and was a member of CAL FIRE’s Incident Management Teams for 13 years. 

Steve earned a Bachelor of Science in forest resource management with a minor in business administration from Humboldt State University. Follow Steve on LinkedIn for his thoughts on IBHS research, building resilience, and wildfire mitigation.