Defensible space
I’m sure some of you have been getting phone calls regarding possible non-renewals based partly on having 100 feet of defensible space around your home. With respect to clearance, it isn’t just insurance companies that require it, but also CAL FIRE. This “defensible space” is broken down into two zones: 0-30 feet and 31-100 feet.
Within the first 30 feet of your home, you should not have any plants that are dead or dying, no dry leaves or pine needles and all trees limbed 8 to 15 feet with no branches over hanging your home. Cal Fire does not want bare ground around your home, but instead well maintained green property with fire resistant plants. The remaining 70 feet should not have over-populated trees. Any trees that are dead or dying should be removed, along with having all grasses trimmed down. One underwriter described the perfect scenario- “it should look like a park setting where you can walk without running into debris or vegetation and you should be able to see plenty of sky- not just a green canopy”. If you have a propane tank you need to have 10 feet of no vegetation surrounding it. Also if you have a wood burning stove, you should stack your wood at least 30 feet away from all structures along with keeping 10 feet of no vegetation around it as well.
Another problem manifesting is with respect to the fire department being able to get down your road or driveway and having space to turn around or to have an exit route. During the Butte Fire there were cases of fire trucks not defending structures due to the condition of the road or driveway (clearance, condition of the road and an exit strategy). Fire crews won’t endanger their equipment or crew if they don’t feel they can get back out safely. We realize that at times that this can be a major hurdle to overcome- although making sure that all the trees, shrubs, and plants that are close to the driveway or road are cut back to make appropriate space for equipment to pass. Having another driveway out is also extremely helpful. If you have a gravel road, contemplate chip seal or other forms of pavement so that trucks don’t fear getting stuck should the roads deteriorate due to extreme conditions.
We know that this is a challenging time to have homeowner’s insurance upcountry. Working together we can head off most of these issues before they are actually issues. There will be instances though where some things just cannot be addressed or corrected. We at HomeRun have several opportunities to seek other avenues of coverage that still provide outstanding value to our customers.
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