Devoted to the Insurance industry and all thing related

The massive wildfires that reeked havoc on thousands of acres and homes has now taken out the California claims record according to a National Underwriter article.  The claim count was dispersed by the Insurance Information Network of California (IINC) and was based on “a survey of the insurance industry.”

According to the IINC survey there were “at least 22,700 claims filed from the Southern California fires and windstorms” compared “with 19,100 claims in 2003 when 3,600 homes were burned.”

Interestingly enough even though more home were destroyed in 2003 there were still more claims filed due to this year’s wildfires.  IINC believes this is due to “the mass evacuation of San Diego County, which resulted in increased claims for additional living expenses.”

All of this information really hit home for me because I was living in Oakland during the 1991 wildfires that destroyed “2,900 homes” and triggered “$2.4 billion” of insurance claims to be paid out (“the Oakland Hills fire remains at this point the most destructive single brushfire in California history”). 

The fire came within several hundred meters of reaching my home and it was only because the winds died down that the fire didn’t continue to tear down the hill.  I was in high school during the fire and I remember that one of my teammates from cross-country lost his home in the fire, as did another person from my school.    

To this day there are still empty lots sprinkled throughout the burned areas.  Of course that $2.4 billion helped many homeowners rebuild, and now if you drive through some of the neighborhoods you’ll see truly impressive homes.  One of the amazing things about the Oakland fire is the ferocity of the winds on that day that enabled embers to ignite fires across the eight-lane 24 freeway and the four-lane 13 freeway.