Private firefighters are used by Chubb, State Farm, USAA and many others. (Credit: Amanda Bronstad/ALM)
As the LA wildfires raged this month, private firefighters hired by insurance companies were on the scene, working to minimize the number of homes lost to the flames.
Insurers used to only offer fire protection services to wealthier policyholders with high-dollar properties. But these days, they’ve become a standard part of regular homeowner policies in fire-prone states. USAA, Chubb, Farmers, Travelers, State Farm and many more contract with private firefighter services.
Private firefighting services are comparatively cheap. In an interview with the New York Times, Bryan Wheelock, vice president of Oregon-based Grayback Forestry, said a small crew of two people and a vehicle can cost about $3,000 a day while a larger crew of two dozen firefighters and four trucks can cost about $10,000 a day.
Two of the largest providers for the industry are Wildfire Defense Systems and Capstone Fire and Safety Management, both present for the LA wildfires. Montana-based Wildfire Defense Systems started offering wildfire loss prevention programs for insurers in 2008 and now covers 22 states as well as parts of Canada. California-based Capstone has performed jobs in 21 states and can work internationally, according to its website. In a statement earlier this month, it said it was operating more than 30 wildfire engines throughout Southern California during the fires.
While private firefighters do spend some of their time fighting fires, a lot of the work involves preventing fire from spreading to the homes they’re protecting. On scene, private firefighters might work to clear vegetation, move or soak woodpiles and clean gutters. They often close windows and tape dryer vents shut to prevent embers from entering the home.
In the off-season, the fire teams can provide prevention services for insurance companies. Visiting homes covered by the insurer, they can recommend specific ways to help protect the home in the event of a wildfire.
The private teams aren’t without some controversy. Ethical questions have been raised about who has access to private fire services. For example, while most policyholders with a single-family home have fire prevention services as part of their plans, the services are still not available for condos, townhomes or mobile homes.
Safety has also been an issue. The California legislature passed a law in 2018 requiring private firefighters to check in with a local incident commander and follow their instructions upon arriving at an evacuation scene. Private teams can’t use the same radio frequency as government teams, and they must leave the scene if asked. They also must have “nonemergency” marked on their vehicles and should avoid using sirens.
The law came as a response to previous wildfires in 2007 and 2017 when, according to the law’s author, private firefighters entered disaster scenes without communicating with public firefighters, causing confusion.
If private firefighting services can help reduce insurer losses, however, it could potentially prevent insurance companies from pulling out of California and other wildfire-prone states in the future.
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