DES PLAINES, Ill., Oct. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- As evacuation orders lifted and the Saddleridge Fire continued to be contained by the Los Angeles Fire Department, the Geospatial Intelligence Center (GIC) began flying aircraft over the impacted areas on Monday, collecting high-resolution aerial images of the damaged structures.

Imagery was made available to GIC members yesterday afternoon, giving insurers the ability to search an address and view before and after aerials images of properties within the impacted area. These images provide insurers with vital information to better respond and pay claims faster to victims while increasing fraud detection. The imagery is provided at no cost to emergency personnel, first responders, and law enforcement to assist in their response to the damage.

"Post-disaster damage assessment is what drives the recovery effort after a wildfire like this one. Affected areas need to be assessed to ascertain how many houses were destroyed," said Richard Butgereit, director of catastrophe response, GIC. "It is our hope that by getting in quickly and assessing these efforts via high resolution aerial imagery, we can help speed up the recovery process with the goal to make this community whole again."

In 2017, the NICB started searching for solutions to help our member companies and law enforcement advance technology post-disaster by developing the Geospatial Intelligence Center Program(GIC) that licenses high resolution aerial images from Vexcel Imaging US, Inc.

"Technological advances have improved in recent years, providing insurers with critical tools to enhance fraud detection and expedite fraud investigations. The GIC program is just another example of how the industry is leveraging innovation to help fight fraud in the wake of a disaster," said NICB chief operating officer Jim Schweitzer.

REPORT FRAUD: Anyone with information concerning insurance fraud or vehicle theft can report it anonymously by calling toll-free 800.TEL.NICB (800.835.6422) or submitting a form on our website.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL INSURANCE CRIME BUREAU: Headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill., the NICB is the nation's leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through data analytics, investigations, learning and development, government affairs and public awareness. The NICB is supported by more than 1,300 property and casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations. NICB member companies wrote over $496 billion in insurance premiums in 2018, or more than 81 percent of the nation's property/casualty insurance. That includes more than 92 percent ($254 billion) of the nation's personal auto insurance. To learn more visit http://www.nicb.org.

About Geospatial Intelligence Center
The Geospatial Intelligence Center's mission is to provide the most comprehensive, precise, and up-to-date geospatial information to insurers. This insurance industry consortium delivers geospatial imagery and analytics, leading to more informed underwriting, better claims decisions, reducing fraud and delivering faster catastrophe response. GIC's growing member base includes Travelers, Metlife, MunichRe, USAA, Allstate, Citizens, and Brit. To learn more visit http://www.geointel.org.

SOURCE Geospatial Intelligence Center