Why not let the developers participate in the replacement of these homes/buildings out of his own pocket???
Or a better idea is to tell the people that do live in those hazardous areas to split the cost with their insurance carrier, which by the way should have their friggin heads examined.. Greed, egos and stupidy make for a great disastor..
I always wonder what the property owner and the insurance underwriter are thinking about having a house exposed to the brush they have in southern California. What about the basic concepts of clear space, fire proof roofs, etc? It’s real hard to have much sympathy for total lack of common sense on the part of both the insurance companies and the property owners. It isn’t a matter of whether or not a catastrophic fire will occur, it’s just a matter of when. Were proper safeguards taken for the inevitability of it? obviously not. and don’t say it isn’t preventable – it’s just a matter of wanting to do it bad enough. let’s see if the building codes allow them all to rebuild and 10 or twenty years from now it will all happen again.
I always wonder what the property owner and the insurance underwriter are thinking about having a house exposed to the brush they have in southern California. What about the basic concepts of clear space, fire proof roofs, etc? It’s real hard to have much sympathy for total lack of common sense on the part of both the insurance companies and the property owners. It isn’t a matter of whether or not a catastrophic fire will occur, it’s just a matter of when. Were proper safeguards taken for the inevitability of it? obviously not. and don’t say it isn’t preventable – it’s just a matter of wanting to do it bad enough. let’s see if the building codes allow them all to rebuild and 10 or twenty years from now it will all happen again.
The problem with your comment is that many of the homes that are being burned and are threatened are in developed areas. Neighborhoods, not just dry hills. Also the Malibu fire did very little damage because of the brush clearance that is required. Please be more informed before you start insulting people that are loosing their homes and businesses.
widespread fire damage, wouldn’t you consider putting power lines underground like they do in civilized countries?
Prepare to read about 500 total losses, all of which are underinsured by about
33% (the national average).
SP should chill out. Bob’s comments have merit. When you choose to live in a virtual “tinderbox”, you should anticipate wildfires threatening your property with some regularity. “fire breaks” of cleared land around houses have already paid off in this fire. The real “natualists” don’t want to disturb the natural setting. That’s an assumption of risk if there ever was one. These folks need to look at alternative methods to protect their property. Maybe less flammable construction materials make sense. Or how about an exterior sprinkler system that could be activated when property is threatened. Sure it will cost money, but nothing compared to losing a multi-million dollar home and its contents.
If they wanted to get serious, somebody should coordinate an “early response plan” to draw aerial water dropping resources from surrounding states that could be mobilized when a fire first starts………not after it gets a head of steam like this one. If they had such a plan and response, they could have prevented a lot of this damage. It’s an annual event just like hurricanes and nobody’s figured out how to deal with it. You would think they’d have realized that “there’s no educational value in the second kick of a mule.”
I have an external fire sprinkler… just in case disaster strikes. My heart goes out to the people, and you’re right there are prevention choices out there, but people don’t think about them until its too late. I got my system from http://www.justadd-water.com
Julie
You obviously don’t live in Calif. The heat generated from these fires causes many of the properties to internally combust, whereby sprinkler systems, if installed, amount to nothing more than pissing on the proverbial campfire. Many of these homes were built as they should be, inside developed neighborhoods with stucco exteriors and tile roofs. These fires create their own weather systems and actually fly over areas where no burnable material exists. The hot embers in the air are also blown a great deal of distance that cause fires elsewhere. Calif has had an EXTREMELY dry year this year. Some of these areas had wind gusts up to 111 mph and sustained winds of 50mph+. Try dousing a fire under those conditions. Air tanker support cannot function at night either. There really is no defense against a perfect firestorm as this. It’s sad to say, but true.
Sorry, I have little to no sympathy to those who live in So Cal. You choose to live in a desert (little to no water, lots of dry scrub bush, frequent strong winds, Etc.) then you’re taking your chances, throwing the dice and taking what comes your way. I also have no sympathy for any of the insurance companies involved, they are doing the same thing. This is the same type of issue we’ve seen with coastal areas and hurricane exposures. You pay a price to live whatever area you prefer. When you make the choice, you have to accept the negative consequences with the good.
California Agent… without getting into a Pissing Match with you… I do live in California, and not only did I spend almost 20 years living in Southern California I also spent 8 years as a firefighter and paramedic. Please don’t pass judgement on someone you don’t know. I didn’t mention having a garden sprinkler outside my home, I mentioned having an external sprinkler as a fire prevention system at my own home, it delivers over 70 gallons of water per minute and creates a defensible perimeter of well over 300′ in diameter and can apply the fire retardent thermo gel or class A foam. It uses the water from my pool which gives me over 6 hours of continuous dousing and is seconded by my pond water availablity. It was created by a company that has firemen on staff. Yes I will agree that there is no 100 percent guarantee for any type of prevention, but I am certainly doing my job as a homeowner in creating defensible space and assisting in the utilization of resources if disaster were to strike my community. It’s not a bad system, you should check it out http://www.justadd-water.com
You know the old proverb… an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
Best of luck in your career as an agent.
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Why not let the developers participate in the replacement of these homes/buildings out of his own pocket???
Or a better idea is to tell the people that do live in those hazardous areas to split the cost with their insurance carrier, which by the way should have their friggin heads examined.. Greed, egos and stupidy make for a great disastor..
I always wonder what the property owner and the insurance underwriter are thinking about having a house exposed to the brush they have in southern California. What about the basic concepts of clear space, fire proof roofs, etc? It’s real hard to have much sympathy for total lack of common sense on the part of both the insurance companies and the property owners. It isn’t a matter of whether or not a catastrophic fire will occur, it’s just a matter of when. Were proper safeguards taken for the inevitability of it? obviously not. and don’t say it isn’t preventable – it’s just a matter of wanting to do it bad enough. let’s see if the building codes allow them all to rebuild and 10 or twenty years from now it will all happen again.
I always wonder what the property owner and the insurance underwriter are thinking about having a house exposed to the brush they have in southern California. What about the basic concepts of clear space, fire proof roofs, etc? It’s real hard to have much sympathy for total lack of common sense on the part of both the insurance companies and the property owners. It isn’t a matter of whether or not a catastrophic fire will occur, it’s just a matter of when. Were proper safeguards taken for the inevitability of it? obviously not. and don’t say it isn’t preventable – it’s just a matter of wanting to do it bad enough. let’s see if the building codes allow them all to rebuild and 10 or twenty years from now it will all happen again.
The problem with your comment is that many of the homes that are being burned and are threatened are in developed areas. Neighborhoods, not just dry hills. Also the Malibu fire did very little damage because of the brush clearance that is required. Please be more informed before you start insulting people that are loosing their homes and businesses.
widespread fire damage, wouldn’t you consider putting power lines underground like they do in civilized countries?
Prepare to read about 500 total losses, all of which are underinsured by about
33% (the national average).
SP should chill out. Bob’s comments have merit. When you choose to live in a virtual “tinderbox”, you should anticipate wildfires threatening your property with some regularity. “fire breaks” of cleared land around houses have already paid off in this fire. The real “natualists” don’t want to disturb the natural setting. That’s an assumption of risk if there ever was one. These folks need to look at alternative methods to protect their property. Maybe less flammable construction materials make sense. Or how about an exterior sprinkler system that could be activated when property is threatened. Sure it will cost money, but nothing compared to losing a multi-million dollar home and its contents.
If they wanted to get serious, somebody should coordinate an “early response plan” to draw aerial water dropping resources from surrounding states that could be mobilized when a fire first starts………not after it gets a head of steam like this one. If they had such a plan and response, they could have prevented a lot of this damage. It’s an annual event just like hurricanes and nobody’s figured out how to deal with it. You would think they’d have realized that “there’s no educational value in the second kick of a mule.”
I have an external fire sprinkler… just in case disaster strikes. My heart goes out to the people, and you’re right there are prevention choices out there, but people don’t think about them until its too late. I got my system from http://www.justadd-water.com
Julie
You obviously don’t live in Calif. The heat generated from these fires causes many of the properties to internally combust, whereby sprinkler systems, if installed, amount to nothing more than pissing on the proverbial campfire. Many of these homes were built as they should be, inside developed neighborhoods with stucco exteriors and tile roofs. These fires create their own weather systems and actually fly over areas where no burnable material exists. The hot embers in the air are also blown a great deal of distance that cause fires elsewhere. Calif has had an EXTREMELY dry year this year. Some of these areas had wind gusts up to 111 mph and sustained winds of 50mph+. Try dousing a fire under those conditions. Air tanker support cannot function at night either. There really is no defense against a perfect firestorm as this. It’s sad to say, but true.
Sorry, I have little to no sympathy to those who live in So Cal. You choose to live in a desert (little to no water, lots of dry scrub bush, frequent strong winds, Etc.) then you’re taking your chances, throwing the dice and taking what comes your way. I also have no sympathy for any of the insurance companies involved, they are doing the same thing. This is the same type of issue we’ve seen with coastal areas and hurricane exposures. You pay a price to live whatever area you prefer. When you make the choice, you have to accept the negative consequences with the good.
California Agent… without getting into a Pissing Match with you… I do live in California, and not only did I spend almost 20 years living in Southern California I also spent 8 years as a firefighter and paramedic. Please don’t pass judgement on someone you don’t know. I didn’t mention having a garden sprinkler outside my home, I mentioned having an external sprinkler as a fire prevention system at my own home, it delivers over 70 gallons of water per minute and creates a defensible perimeter of well over 300′ in diameter and can apply the fire retardent thermo gel or class A foam. It uses the water from my pool which gives me over 6 hours of continuous dousing and is seconded by my pond water availablity. It was created by a company that has firemen on staff. Yes I will agree that there is no 100 percent guarantee for any type of prevention, but I am certainly doing my job as a homeowner in creating defensible space and assisting in the utilization of resources if disaster were to strike my community. It’s not a bad system, you should check it out
http://www.justadd-water.com
You know the old proverb… an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
Best of luck in your career as an agent.