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Some California residents get extra protection from wildfires – for a price

 
Flames from the Palisades Fire burn homes on January 7. Eric Thayer/Getty Images

Flames from the Palisades Fire burn homes on January 7. Eric Thayer/Getty Images

CNN — As the Palisades fire began intensifying Tuesday evening, Los Angeles real estate executive Keith Wasserman sent out a plea on social media: “Does anyone have access to private firefighters to protect our home in Pacific Palisades? Need to act fast here. All neighbors houses burning. Will pay any amount.”

The now-deleted post sparked an intense blowback by social media users who felt the wealthy shouldn’t be given special attention during an emergency.

“Whose home gets saved shouldn’t depend on their bank account,” one TikTok user commented.

 

As multiple wildfires, powered by high-speed winds, have destroyed thousands of homes in the Los Angeles area, some residents have gone to great lengths — and often great expense — to try to shield their homes from destruction. Some have paid thousands of dollars to get their properties sprayed with fire-retardant gels to stem the damage, while others have invested in personal fire hydrants to help fight fires near their property.

Despite the intense reaction to Wasserman’s social media post, most private firefighters aren’t hired by wealthy individuals, Mike Stutts, a firefighter in Somerset, California, told CNN. Instead, most work with home insurance companies that are trying to save expensive homes to avoid costly insurance payouts.

According to materials on its website, insurance company Chubb offers “Wildfire Defense Services” to eligible clients. During a wildfire event, those services include “sending certified professional firefighters to your home,” “removing combustible materials from around your home” and “spraying your home with a heat-absorbing fire-blocking gel.”

Tim Bauer, a senior vice president at fire damage restoration service Allied Disaster Defense, said after the first three days of fire in Pacific Palisades, he had a waiting list of at least 200 people, all desperate for the company’s services. Bauer said the company is spraying properties with the same fire retardant dropped by firefighting air tankers.

Allied sprays down bushes, shrubs and other vegetation to prevent ashes and sparks from igniting a home.

During non-emergency times, the cost is about $1,000, but amid dangerous wildfire conditions, Bauer charges $5,000.

For many in the affluent neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, it’s a small price to pay to help protect multimillion-dollar homes. Bauer said one woman offered $100,000 to be moved to the top of his waiting list, but Bauer said he planned to stick to the original order on his list.

On Friday, Michael Owens, a real estate developer in the Los Angeles area, showed one of his newly built homes to a family whose own home was just destroyed in the Palisades fire.

The listed price of the home in Westlake Village, which sits on the Los Angeles-Ventura county line, is nearly $15 million. One of the home’s main selling points is it’s built with fire-proof materials and comes equipped with a personal fire hydrant.

All in, the cost of the home’s personal fire hydrant is about $100,000, Owens told CNN. That includes the installation cost and a one-time $35,000 fee to the municipal water company for access. Owens said he has one in front of his own Westlake Village home, as well.

Owens said he hoped the recent wildfires would convince more people to prioritize investing in fire-safe homes.

“It will be interesting now, as you see homes built back in the Palisades, what people consider doing with their homes when they’re in an urban high-fire risk area,” he said.

In Malibu, a type of personal fire hydrant that costs significantly less than $100,000 has grown in popularity, said Kevin Rosenbloom, a local resident who owns a healthcare device company.

Rosenbloom’s home was rebuilt after it was destroyed by a wildfire in 2007. In front of his home, he built a “Hainy Hydrant,” a personal fire hydrant developed by fellow Malibu resident Matt Haines to help the area combat wildfires.

Rosenbloom said the hydrant cost him about $2,500, and since it taps into a home’s personal water supply, it can be installed by a plumber. Rosenbloom said his home hasn’t been hit by the recent fires, but he plans to use his personal hydrant to keep his home “cool and wet” if one approaches.

“People all over Malibu have been putting these hydrants in. It’s a basic first step and it’s very inexpensive relative to other systems available,” Rosenbloom said. “This is really the next technology in fire suppression and fire protection.”

Even with extra investment in firefighting and suppression systems, though, there is no guarantee a home could survive a fire as strong as the one still raging in Pacific Palisades.

Wasserman, who sent out the plea for private firefighters, did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Author: Samantha Delouya and Stephanie Becker, CNN

Source: CNN:::

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