Insurance professional and Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce president, Fred Clark, spoke at the Kern Valley Exchange Club, July 11, regarding Fire Wise Communities. Paradise Cove Lodge hosted the luncheon.
Clark said, “This pertains to every one of us in this valley, but deeper than that, when it comes to the Department of Insurance for all of us that live in high risk fire areas, being part of a Fire Wise Community is going to be the next step where you can or cannot be accepted by some insurance carriers.”
The Fire Wise Community is a group of houses, within the community, with a key person leading, and as little as a group of eight homes participating together. Not everyone is mandated to participate. Clark explained that the State of California has figured out that not everyone would willingly participate in such an association. Those in the group would agree to put in two hours a year of brush clearance or vegetation clearance on their properties. The hours would be recorded and shared with the powers that be.
Clark encouraged the public to attend a meeting, Thursday July 18, at the Kern River Valley Senior Center at 6pm, in Lake Isabella. “There’s a lot of things coming down the pike, changes that’s going to effect how we obtain insurance in the future,” he said.
According to Clark a number of insurance carriers started new rules. For example they won’t insure homes older than 30 years, unless the home has a full plumbing re-pipe or an automatic shut off installed. And some carriers won’t insure homes, older than 40 years, at all. Clark expects that in 2025 or 2026 when the Department of Insurance finalizes all the regulation changes the department is shooting for, it would use three key tools allowing rates to be set: 1.) The catastrophic model; 2.) Artificial Intelligence; and 3.) Global Warming. Clark said that he wonders how all of this can be regulated by the industry other than raising rates. Clark thinks clearance of properties is one key to keeping rates down. He hopes to get a jump on Sacramento forming the Fire Wise Communities rather than allowing Sacramento to take the lead on it.
Clark said he wants to see more of the public involved, so there would be record keeping, at the local level. He said that the only advantage to the concept is getting neighborhoods working together.
