So Cal Fires!!!

[LHSmith]

I remember as a youngster visiting relatives (Arcadia) some of those same places burned and looked about the same, that brush goes up like it's gasoline. Only back then nobody built houses in those locations for just that reason.

And then proceed to build the most densely populated county in the entire US in those areas which is also on a huge fault system. So how can any sane person be shocked by this event- it was inevitable to those who don't live in a fantasy land. Stupididity has consequences and there has been a superabundance of that going on.

 

[rr2030]

And then proceed to build the most densely populated county in the entire US in those areas which is also on a huge fault system. So how can any sane person be shocked by this event- it was inevitable to those who don't live in a fantasy land. Stupididity has consequences and there has been a superabundance of that going on.

Just like they proceed to build homes in Hurricane, Tornado, and flood areas. Someone decided it was a good idea to build New Orleans 8' below seal level.

 

[NorCalMikie]

That's odd, because CA got nearly twice their average rainfall the last two winters. Recall devastating floods and mudslides, big Sierra snowpacks.
-

1/10 th. of an inch of rain since May of last year in So Cal!!!
All the rain came to Nor Cal. Could have shipped it to So Cal but NO, we couldn't do that. Don't save any of it, Just send it all back to the Pacific Ocean.
But it's OK to ship Nor Cal water (without asking) to So Cal for irrigation? Never bothered to say anything about saving water for fires.
SOMEBODY needs to have their AZZ handed to them.

Not expecting any rain here for the next two weeks but so far, we're looking at 22". We STILL NEED MORE!!

 

[dellet]

This is F'd !!
So folks are to keep homeowners insurance as per thier contracts with lendors, yet the insurance companies have the right to cancel policies because they precieve a catastrophe thus leaving folks uninsured and left to thier own means to rebuild.
Legalized organized crime if you ask me.

I think that true cancelations were probably few and far between. A canceled policy would require a refund of some sort, a lot of paper work and possible challenges and lawsuits.

What is more likely is that people got a non-renewal notice effective January 1 2025. Or whatever their date was. This is what happened on my mom’s house. We tried to transfer her policy upon her death, they sent a cancelation notice. When they were informed that they would need to send us the remaining balance of 11 months paid in advance, all of a sudden remaining insured until 12/31/24 was not a problem.

Had we not tried to transfer the policy, the notice for non renewal only required a 60 day notice if I remember right. We would have been in bad shape trying to find a decent policy on short notice.

There is a state sponsored or subsidized insurance program for those that can’t find coverage. With so many companies moving out of the state, coverage is both difficult and expensive to find.

 

[bsekf]

I feel for the folks who have lost everything unless they are the folks who voted and campaigned against controlled burns and brush removable and built in a sagebrush thicket. If it is true the politicians squandered the money designated for firemen, fire prevention and water supply, it is time for a politician change. There is a reason ranch buildings are built in the middle of a big field and there is a BIG tractor hooked to a BIG disc ready to plow a fire line and start a backfire!

 

[NorCalMikie]

The Ins. Co. threatened to cancel my homeowners Ins Policy.
House needed to be painted?
Needed a new roof?
Bushes too high?
Have NEVER filed a homeowners Ins. claim!! NEVER!!
Even after 50+ years of being a policy holder. They DID get their AZZES handed to them after we had BIG fires in our area. Folks died and some lost their homes.
They changed their mind after burning their fingers while reading the letter I sent to them!! (with a CC to the Ins Commissioner of California)
Paint won't dry in 30* temps!
If my roof leaks, I don't call them, I FIX IT!!
If I have a broken pipe, I don't call them, I FIX IT!!
I told them, If they were going to cancel my policy, be sure to do the same with my auto policies and I would send them a LIST of other family members that will ALSO drop their policies.
All of a sudden, NEVER MIND, all is well.
The Ins Co. WILL do you dirty if you let them. Same with big Banks. Don't let them get to you!!

 

[brokeasajoke]

This is F'd !!
So folks are to keep homeowners insurance as per thier contracts with lendors, yet the insurance companies have the right to cancel policies because they precieve a catastrophe thus leaving folks uninsured and left to thier own means to rebuild.
Legalized organized crime if you ask me.

Kinda like we are still dealing with here in NC after Helene.

 

[Bc'z]

Kinda like we are still dealing with here in NC after Helene.

Oh, I thought of y'all as I was typing

 

[ebb]

I worked on estates in the town of Plam Beach my whole career (think Mar-a-Lago) and decided to live in something affordable. I built a bomb shelter of a house that is about 1100 sg ft. Homeowners Ins with wind protection and no flood protection is about $6000 a year on what is almost a tiny house. We had to give it up a few years back, but spent the money on a new standing seam metal roof, with 170 MPH wind protection. I cannot imagine watching your house burn.

 

[Mastershot]

All those people down there are going to have a really tough time if they plan on rebuilding. The insurance companies are going to take a really long time to pay out on the policies. Then comes the building permits, because of the fires they will change the building codes. They are going to require all the homes to be built with IR1 construction. That is making it so nothing on the outside of the building can burn. I bet it takes 10 years for all the vacant lots to be fully built.

 

[centerlineseal]

Long ago retired Smokejumper here. Seen a lot of fire all over the West and Alaska, even Canada, including SoCal.

The wind conditions that spawned these massive fires make control impossible. Once it goes from house to house, its over. Stand back and watch it go by, cause that's what its gonna' do. Those firemen got people out and controlled what they could, but it was literally "pissin' in the wind".

Hydrant water wise, I understand there were 3 one million gallon tank reservoirs in Palisades. Hookup a hundred or so trucks to the system, plus homeowners with sprinklers and hoses running, .. it doesn't take long before your "runnin on empty". No way you can replenish/refill that capacity from lower level storage (If you have it). Lack of Capacity to Supply (Infrastructure) is the direct responsibility of LADWP. The people of LA have a legitimate issue there!

Physical brush removal is the only way to mitigate fire risk in those hilly/canyon areas with homes both scattered and stacked on each other. Controlled burns in such landscapes are ludicrous. Who is responsible? The landowner/homeowner is! I live in the foothills in Southern Idaho on five acres. I keep a no-to-little vegetation buffer around the house and have it complete before 4th of July, every year. 3 eight hour days of weed eating down to dirt, every year. I hate it, but I do it. I even have a 3" pump along with 300 ft. of firehouse ready next to the swimming pool.

Why? To mitigate risk, because I know I am at risk every day where I live. I choose to live here and I accept the risk. And of course I have Homeowners Insurance and pay princely sums for it. If, God Forbid, I get burned out, insurance will never make me "whole", it will merely keep me from complete financial disaster.

Insurance is a "Risk Pool" and we're all in it. We will all pay more, throughout the country, for insurance when the payout for these fires come due. We are in that "pool" and we all should understand that!

May god help those people make it through these trying times!

Rant Over, ... heading to the reloading bench.

 

[Straightshooter1]

Insurance is a "Risk Pool" and we're all in it. We will all pay more, throughout the country, for insurance when the payout for these fires come due. We are in that "pool" and we all should understand that!

I wish more people understood this!

In addition, and unfortunately, the insurance companies not only have to answer to those in the "risk pool", in most case they also have to answer to share holders.

 

[Bc'z]

Ironically i got a letter from Oregon Department of Forestry just now.
In bold letters it states...
"Your property has been identified as being within both a high hazard zone and the wildland-urban interface."
Next line...
"This designation will not impact your homeowners insurance rates or ability to obtain coverage. "

Uh huh, sure!

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Kinda like we are still dealing with here in NC after Helene.

Watch how much more money our current administration sends to Kali over you guys.

 

[Turkeytider]

Just like they proceed to build homes in Hurricane, Tornado, and flood areas. Someone decided it was a good idea to build New Orleans 8' below seal level.

I’m convinced God did not intend for cities to be built in certain locales. Periodically He lets us know that.

 

[rr2030]

1/10 th. of an inch of rain since May of last year in So Cal!!!

Ventura county average last year is around 6"

 

[muleystalker]

1/10 th. of an inch of rain since May of last year in So Cal!!!
All the rain came to Nor Cal. Could have shipped it to So Cal but NO, we couldn't do that. Don't save any of it, Just send it all back to the Pacific Ocean.
But it's OK to ship Nor Cal water (without asking) to So Cal for irrigation? Never bothered to say anything about saving water for fires.
SOMEBODY needs to have their AZZ handed to them.

Not expecting any rain here for the next two weeks but so far, we're looking at 22". We STILL NEED MORE!!

On another note, So Ca. does nothing to save or collect rain water, every time it rains there we hear about floods and people drowning in the big runoff canals/rivers as it all just goes to the ocean. They get there insurance money and build bigger. They could be building more reservoirs down there in the hills, plenty of places to do it but instead we up here in Northern Ca. have to pay to build reservoirs up here for our water ( when we have the Ca. Delta/ Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers) And they get our river water sent down to them while we flip the bill. They should be building more reservoirs down there and paying for them. Year after year they just let that water run into the ocean.

 

[muleystalker]

Watch how much more money our current administration sends to Kali over you guys.

Part of Newsoms plan. I just saw he applied for federal Disaster money saying commercial Albacore fisherman on the west coast had a horrible year that the fish didn't show up, It was a decent year for Albacore this year, I know the sports boats hammered them too. and the year before was an all time high.

 

[wedgy]

This is F'd !!
So folks are to keep homeowners insurance as per thier contracts with lendors, yet the insurance companies have the right to cancel policies because they precieve a catastrophe thus leaving folks uninsured and left to thier own means to rebuild.
Legalized organized crime if you ask me.

I live in North Los Angeles county in a 1,600 square foot stucco walled tile roof tract house. Four years ago my homeowners insurance was $1,150 a year then 2 years later it was $2,450 as most insurers had left CA or wouldn't write policies. In June 2024 it went to $8720 and only one company would write a policy. A broker told me if I could get a policy under $10k I was lucky and to jump on it. I told him if I have to pay $8,720 I will burn it down myself and get a new house. Why should I have to live in a 40 year old house ?
Your lender requires that you are insured so the state has a thing called the California Fair Plan(it is anything but fair) that is 4x the price for a quarter of the coverage. It only covers for fire and flood, does not cover rebuilding to current code upgrades, no liability, contents, lodging while rebuilding, etc. The private companies will write wrap around policies to cover all the things Fair Plan doesn't cover, they will not write policies for the actual structure.
A neighbor recently bought his 3 bed 2 bath house for $970K(it has a nice pool) which is absolutely ridiculous and he will be in for a shock when he gets his new policy next year. His initial homeowners policy is issue thru the loan and was only $3,400. My house property taxes are assessed at $216K for the structure and $104K for the land and my insurance quote of $8,720 is based on the $216K to rebuild the structure. His assessment is going to be close to $700K so he can triple my price of $8,720 if any company will write a policy.
In 2019 we had the Tick Fire that raged in 70mph winds burning ~5,000 acres and 32 homes. I was the only person on my street that stayed, going from house to house putting out fires in brush, patio covers, awnings, etc. When everyone left I suddenly had great water pressure. I saved mine and 3 others that were in the path of the fire but the 3rd house from mine was lost as he has pine trees on the side of his house that the fire was coming from and there was no way I could battle that with a garden hose. We still have some charred fence posts and burned tree trunks as reminders and I will never be able to scrape the melted plastic off the concrete where my trash cans burned up. One thing I added was 1/8th inch stainless steel screen to my attic vents as that is how embers got into several homes and destroyed them. Nothing like the scale of what is currently going on but close enough for me.
Overall it is another failure of California's leaders who are again putting their political agendas ahead of their citizens safety from both crime and natural disasters. We pay the highest taxes and get nothing in return. And to top it all off the idiot governor shows up in a large gas guzzling black SUV while he mandates electric cars for the state.

 

[jwv2001]

Something to think about. People in California, as also the rest of the country, are living on the verge of a civil war. These people living on the coast are the problem. Super liberal, super progressive, as long as it isn't their ox that's getting gored. I don't think there has been a fair election in California in 40 years. Maybe they will start thinking about the consequences of their choices. Those that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind.