Mono County Office of Emergency Management Delivers Grim Fire Insurance Message

Mono County Office of Emergency Management Delivers Grim Fire Insurance Message 

Residents of the Eastern Sierra only have to look out their windows to understand the increased danger from wildland fires as we seem to be rushing into what has traditionally been our Fire Season. The most recent potential nail in the coffin was the announcement that conventional fire insurance is no longer an option. Mono County’s Chris Mokracek, head of the Office of Emergency Management, was tasked with defining the danger at last week’s supervisorial meeting. 

First, the concept of defensible space has never been so important, not just for individual homes, but for entire communities. To hammer that home, Mokracek told the Board that California is ranked number one in potential climate disasters with an expected total loss of $10,334,271,892. Insurance through the California Fair Plan costs, on the average, $3,800 a year. The potential number of East Siders who may opt to stay and protect their homes could be risking their lives. 

Mokracek ran through this year’s fire season that started early but resulted in no big burns on the East Side. As a result, the landscape is lush with fuels. Organizations have been working on the current problem but are not sure any solution would be affordable. The reasons are mostly obvious: heavy fuels, temperatures finally reaching seasonal highs and increased home values. In addition to the impacts on consumer insurance companies, the companies that insure laypeople’s insurance companies have been hit hard by historical losses. In the last few years, 24,000 structures in California have been lost to fire. 

The presentation included 12 ways to prepare: sign up for alerts, have a plan, save money for a potential disaster, practice emergency drills, have a family communication plan, safeguard important documents, create a plan with neighbors, make your home as fire safe as possible, explore evacuation routes, assemble to-go supplies, get involved with your community and document and insure your property. If locals’ insurance company does drop you, Mokracek recommended asking the insurer if there are improvements you can make to get a reversal of that decision. He reminded the Board that companies are required to notify a decision to cancel a policy 75 days before the policy expires.  If you suspect the cancellation is a violation of the law, file a consumer complaint with the California Department of Insurance (www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers). 

While most of Mokracek’s presentation was information residents of the East Side are familiar with, conditions this year, following record-setting rain and snow, have warranted a reminder. 

Deb Murphy