Will homeowners see a rate hike on their insurance if new state-issued fire maps are approved?
That's what residents asked the Orange County Fire Authority during an information meeting in the Saddleback Room of the Tuesday night.
Frustrated property owners from newly-designated high risk zones sat down to listen to the OCFA’s presentation on fire hazards. But after 20 minutes, several audience members voiced their impatience and expressed their concerns about rising insurance costs.
Earlier this month, city leaders postponed a vote to approve new state fire maps.
There's nothing to worry about, Fire Marshall Laura Blaul said.
“It’s not based on the maps,” Blaul said. “We talked with insurance companies, they say it’s not based on the maps.”
Several attendees shared their doubts about Blaul’s statement. One man called her statement “cow excrement.”
Blaul, Mayor Pro Tem and the City Attorney were in attendance trying to answer everyone’s questions, mainly trying to quell homeowners' worries that they would see their insurance coverage cost increase or even lose their policies.
Blaul said insurers don't care about the state's maps.
"They are looking at the risk criteria," Blaul said. "How much separation do you have from the brush? They are looking at a number of factors; roads, and distance from fire stations. They are not looking at the hazard maps. They said they have their own models."
Many property owners were not convinced. Some argued that Blaul's statement might not be true due to their inside knowledge on insurance companies.
Blaul said that according to the state department of insurance, it is illegal for insurance companies to suddenly raise rates just because of new maps.
The best thing the OCFA can do for the property owners according to Blaul is to help mitigation of property.
Several citizens suggested removing brush, trees, or any vegetation that could fuel brushfires. The idea is to show insurance companies that their homes are not as hazardous as the map suggests.
One citizen whose son-in-law is a fire captain said that to make this effort a success, the entire neighborhood has to be involved. If one house remains a hazard, it could put other houses at risk.
I was frustrated when pointing out that my community of Califia and neighboring Auburn ridge which are next to a canyon are pretty secure as the homes all have stucco outside, a minimum of vertical wood trim and tile roofs and the roofs are sealed. That means blowing embers can’t get under the tiles and burn the house buy starting an attic fire that no one sees. There is also 200 feet of green belt area between the homes and the fuel and even then the fuel is pretty sparse as it gets near the homes. After the green belt the only thing that could really catch fire in my area are palm trees or others from blowing embers but assuming anyone was home at the time a garden hose could take care of that. They never addressed that safety issue in my area but went on to point out in Yorba Linda how palm trees and Unsealed Roofs cause housing losses in wind driven fires a few years ago. To be continued
We were also told the State mandated the City had 120 days to accept the maps or recommend some changes and we were right about that time period now. One of the City representatives (I don’t remember which one) said this whole thing started in October of 2011. But I went to the California Dept of Forestry & Fire Protection website and found the Chuck Wilson, Director of Community Development as early as July 15th said the proposed maps are OK with the City. Someone is not telling us the truth about the whole episode and not asking for public comments until it is too late. New regulations always cost someone money and pay someone money. We know who it will be costing; we just don’t know whose pockets we will be lining.
Where you there last night when it was admitted not one home as ever been lost in Mission Viejo to one of these type of fires? Any idea of who gets $ from declaring these areas "Severe"?