Insurance is strange!?!

[ultrarunner]

I found interesting the plight of a property owner planning to remove trees and it was a no go… fire approaching and all the trees dropped by forestry crew with dozer…

Oldtimers just scratch their heads..

 

[PILOON]

Had a tree that looked scary and planned to have it cut shortly.
Well yesterday I backed my car out to go fetch the mail as the wife was coming out to do some yard chores.
Later I came home to find a maple laying where my car had been parked.
Wife said it fell about 2 mins after I left.
Now it was a dead calm day so what gives.

OK, so I bought a Lotto ticket!

While that tree (Maple) looked kind of scrawny it was actually very alive with healthy growth at the top.

 

[sandman2234]

This thread got me thinking of pro active action during the California fires...

Putting in vegetation breaks, felling trees, packing scheduled items and wetting down insured structures... no obligation I can see for preventative maintenance...

It has been common knowledge for many years that it is easier for you to prevent forest fires, than to fight insurance companies! Being pro active just means you hope you don't have to deal with an insurance company!
David from jax

 

[ultrarunner]

I wish fire prevention would not have become so bureaucratic where hands often tied until fire is bearing down to take out a tree or disturb earth..

 

[arizona98tj]

Several years back, my wife and I returned from a weekend vacation. Our Phx, AZ home and had very soggy floors. A water pipe buried beneath the slab had developed a leak and the pressure forced water up through a crack in the slab. The insurance company spent a fair amount of money replacing carpet, jack-hammering the slab to fix the cold water pipe, etc.

Fast forward about two years. I began noticing that every time I turned on the hot water in the master bath, it was hot within a second or two. Our hot water heater, located in the garage, was probably 20 feet from the bathroom. Hmmm.....sounds like the hot water pipe was leaking very close to the master bath. As before, the piping is under the slab but this time, no soggy floor......yet.

I called the insurance company to inform them of the problem and that this time, they could fix the leak before it ruined the carpet, flooring, etc. NOPE! They only fix the damage once it had occurred. I told them that I could wait but it seemed silly. They informed me that since I knew it was now leaking and I had informed them, they would not be paying on any claim I might submit once the leak was bad enough to again cause damage. I guess there is a monetary reason for the "don't ask, don't tell" practice.

So I had the house plumbing replaced.....putting the pipes in the attic and dropping down between the wall studs instead of coming up through the floor. That way, when the piping failed, the ceiling would immediately be soaked and no one would know about it ahead of time.

 

[ning]

Well some of it is now required after July 1st, 2021, in California;

https://www.fire.ca.gov/programs/communications/defensible-space-prc-4291/

Not so much the scheduled items.

I have been told that wetting down structures is only really useful when the embers are falling or the flames are there, or minutes away. The water evaporates too quickly. But I have no personal experience.

All the best,

Peter

They've been very proactive with evacuation warnings and orders the past couple of years when a fire happens.
Unless you just leave sprinklers running, your house would be bone dry long before the typical fire is capable of catching the house on fire if you heed the evacuation order, and definitely if you leave when it's "only" an evacuation warning - today's a "humid" day for this area (it actually sprinkled a bit this morning and may again tonight) but it's still only 32% humidity, and during the worst of the fire weather it's sometimes in the single-digits - I hang-dry my pants on the line and they dry stiff in 2-3 hours half the year.

So, the notion of protecting your house against an active major fire is kinda arse here. Preventative to make it easier for the pros to do, on the other hand, is worthwhile, because removing the fuels makes it easier for them to keep the fire from getting right to the house in the first place.

 

[George2615]

I just went through the same thing about 4 months ago. Had a 90' pine that was 3' from the garage for past 30 years. Then we had a bad wind storm with 80-90 MPH winds and the pine was swaying toward the garage just touching it with each gust. Insurance co. told me the same preventative maint. story and since I called them I guessed they would deny a claim if it fell due to my lack of preventative maint.
I shopped around (called 7 tree services) and only one would take on the job. It cost me 7K to have it taken down. The biggest expense was the crane they had to bring in and probably their insurance in case of damage. They had to cut the canopy branches off first then cut the rest in sections and lowered them down.

 

[Torvy]

Probably just try to cut it down yourself. If it is an accident, it would likely be covered. But, don't call them first.

 

[Jstpssng]

Had a tree that looked scary and planned to have it cut shortly.
Well yesterday I backed my car out to go fetch the mail as the wife was coming out to do some yard chores.
Later I came home to find a maple laying where my car had been parked.
Wife said it fell about 2 mins after I left.
Now it was a dead calm day so what gives.

OK, so I bought a Lotto ticket!

While that tree (Maple) looked kind of scrawny it was actually very alive with healthy growth at the top.

I spent a few nights in a state campground about this time of year. They were getting ready to close for the year and I was the only one there. I started to set up at a site but there was a big, dead yellow birch tree so I chose another spot. I set up my tent, went to the shower room to get cleaned up and was cooking supper when I heard a crash, then the sound of running water. That tree had fallen right where I had been going to set up, cleaning out the water line to the shower house. It was a perfectly quiet day and there was no reason to expect the tree to fall. As much time as I've spent in the woods in the last 50 years I don't believe that I've ever heard another tree come down like that for no obvious reason.

 

[ultrarunner]

Retired fire fighters from different agencies stayed behind on the recent Echo Lake fire to man pumps drawing lake water to prevent embers from taking hold…

in the 3000 home Oakland fire people did leave on yard sprinklers on wrap around lawn and neighbor homes lost and not the home with sprinklers left on.

Lake Tahoe proper other fire fighters stayed to fight… went and dropped protected trees in the neighborhood as flames approached…

City of Berkeley sent city crews 150 miles to protect city camp… they stayed but left when egress was being threatened at granite summit.

Plenty of cases where engine companies taking a stand saved property in wildland fires…

Don’t know how familiar people are with upper Echo Lake… lots of bare granite plus water from lake as long as pumps function…

So much of fire spread due to embers so being able to keep embers in check miles from fire can be the difference.

Soil Erosion science resulted in major shift in Tahoe basin and property owners told not to take and dispose of needles as had been best practice for 80 years… as kids we would take and incinerate needles as did everyone else until prohibited.