Off-Topic: Southern California Fires

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For a hurricane or a flood, I get it, because you can predict the super high risk properties. But the equivalent of this situation in California would be telling literally the entire state of Iowa that they can’t have reasonably priced home insurance (and therefore maybe can’t borrow money to buy the home in the State) because Iowa is a high risk tornado zone. These fires aren’t in heavily forested areas, and a good chunk of them are within a few miles of the coast, where you would expect the fire risk to be much lower.
Who would expect that? Not Californians.

 
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For a hurricane or a flood, I get it, because you can predict the super high risk properties. But the equivalent of this situation in California would be telling literally the entire state of Iowa that they can’t have reasonably priced home insurance (and therefore maybe can’t borrow money to buy the home in the State) because Iowa is a high risk tornado zone. These fires aren’t in heavily forested areas, and a good chunk of them are within a few miles of the coast, where you would expect the fire risk to be much lower.
So then who pays?
 
Anyone in SoCal, be ready, it happens quick.

The Sunset Fire was just up the street from us, and we were out the door within maybe 30 minutes of it breaking out. No interested in ******* around with it.

Ring cam is still on, so it seems our building is safe. The fire’s under control, so it looks like this will just be a close call. Still, we’re playing it safe and staying in a hotel well away from any hills.
 
If this fire was within 10 miles of me, I'd spend the whole day packing my vehicles full of must keeps. About 90% of the stuff in my house is easily replaceable. Although, with these winds even the 10 mile radius isn't safe.
 
I've got family in LA. I don't believe they were told to evacuate but were going to anyway since it's so unpredictable.

Watched coverage last night. It was amazing how much the fire grew in a short time.

Oddly watching the coverage makes me miss the place.
 
So weird situation last night - my daughter's friend who live close to the Sunset fire called and asked if her, her bf and cat could come stay at my daughters to get away from the bad smoke. They get to my daughters and about 20 minutes later the cat started weezing real bad and died. I am guessing the smoke at the friend's house was to much for it.
 
So weird situation last night - my daughter's friend who live close to the Sunset fire called and asked if her, her bf and cat could come stay at my daughters to get away from the bad smoke. They get to my daughters and about 20 minutes later the cat started weezing real bad and died. I am guessing the smoke at the friend's house was to much for it.

I'd wonder if this happens to folks in a few weeks that already had weak lungs or some other condition.
 
I'd wonder if this happens to folks in a few weeks that already had weak lungs or some other condition.

On the news last night the reporters were in a cloud of smoke. A lot of ground level smoke in the area.

Sure seems like the actual fire is part one. We'll get the insurance mess, future health issues, fraud, and mudslides
 
There have been warnings about the smoke. Heard one official call it a “toxic soup”.

One thing when it’s burning trees and other vegetation. But when homes start burning it’s all sorts of other chemicals from building materials, plastics, etc
 
There have been warnings about the smoke. Heard one official call it a “toxic soup”.

One thing when it’s burning trees and other vegetation. But when homes start burning it’s all sorts of other chemicals from building materials, plastics, etc
There is a reason that reducing exposure to carcinogens and equipment post fire has become a big deal in the fire service. The days have using worn smoke stained equipment are long gone. Now you would be hard pressed to find a professional department that doesn't have strict rules on where bunker gear can be worn etc.
 
The insurance companies’ role in this is more complicated in some states than others. Of course they expect to make some money as all for-profit businesses do. But in some cases it’s because state insurance regulators will not allow premiums to increase to an extent where the carriers can even hope to break even based on their risk modeling.

Like California and Florida, it’s only a matter of time until states take over and provide government-subsidized insurance because no for/profit enterprise can afford to do business there without charging premiums homeowners simply cannot afford.


I write 6 insurance companies in California and we can no longer write any of them as of a year ago. To many wild fires and mud slides. It's a disaster insurance wise in California right now and this is just going to make it a lot worse.
 
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Here's some perspective for you if we had the two largest fires in the Des Moines metro..

Yikes. Just an immense amount of devastation.



Wow. I was sitting here yesterday a block from Mpls thinking how much of the metro here it would be. My visualization needs to be enlarged by quite a bit.
 
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People aren't going to be able to get insurance here shortly.

thought I read something that some insurance companies won't operate in CA but the state is trying to incentivize them to come back. Or if they are operating, they don't offer fire protection anymore and if they do its sky high premium.
My home insurance policy was cancelled as of December 26th. I couldn’t find a carrier writing new policies in California. For the time being I had to get a specialty policy through Lloyd’s of London.

This is despite my house being in a “minor” fire risk zone in the middle of an urban area.
 
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