The Southern California Firestorms of 2003

The wildfires that raged through San Bernardino and San Diego Counties in October have now been declared the worst fire disaster in the history of the insurance industry.

More than 8,000 firefighters battled roaring flames for two weeks. When the fires were finally extinguished, the toll was staggering: 22 people died, including a firefighter; more than 743,000 acres were charred; 3,600 homes were destroyed; untold numbers of outbuildings burned; and hundreds of vehicles were turned into heaps of twisted, melted metal. The Property Claims Services Office unit of the Insurance Services Office estimated the insurance loss to be well over $2 billion, more than the Oakland Hills or Laguna/Malibu fires of 1991 and 1993 respectively.

The state’s estimated cost of fighting the fires is now well over $100 million.

I took a camera crew from Capitol Counterpoint—a weekly Cable TV program that delves into legislative and regulatory insurance and business issues affecting Californians—into the fire areas of San Bernardino and San Diego within days of the fires first outbreak. The goal was to find out what home and vehicle owners do when they’ve lost everything and turn to their insurance agents and companies for help.

Thousands of agents, independent adjusters and company personnel were working day and night in fire areas to locate their policyholders to tell them how to seek help. Fliers with claims office 800 numbers compiled by the Insurance Information Network of California were distributed at evacuation centers, published in newspapers, listed on radio and TV news programs and given to reporters covering the fires.

San Bernardino
The first stop was the evacuation center set up at San Bernardino airport. There were 2,500 evacuees there. Many of them sat in bunkbeds and others walked around the huge hangar. They were there to get food, clothing and aide from insurance companies, the Red Cross and federal and state agencies at booths set up in and around the hangar.

Dozens of mobile insurance claims vans, trucks, RVs, cars and tents were set up all over the tarmac. Hundreds of evacuees were helped by insurance agents, claims adjusters, insurance company personnel and volunteers. At State Farm, Farmers, AAA, SAFECO, USAA, Allstate, 21st Century, Progressive and other insurance company mobile claims units, checks were handed to policyholders for food, clothing and temporary shelter.

The lessons learned by the insurance industry from the earlier fires was clear. The insurance industry moved into the fire areas as soon as it was safe. Unlike the Oakland Hills or Laguna, roads were accessible to fire fighting equipment and people evacuated homes easily once ordered out. Insurance agents and company personnel stayed in touch with policyholders by exchanging location information to continue helping as needed.

Next, we went to the Del Rosa area of San Bernardino hit hard by the fires. We talked to several homeowners who were sifting through rubble that was once their homes. Two insurance claims expediters were walking through piles of ash, filling out inventory forms for each room. It was gut wrenching, but it felt good to know someone who had lost everything was getting help.

San Diego
We saw a dozen mobile insurance company vans parked near Scripps Ranch’s community building. Inside, FEMA, OES, the Small Business Administration, the fire department, public utilities, gas, electric, California Department of Insurance and telephone companies helped more than 1,000 people seeking assistance.

We went to Scripps Ranch where 350 homes burned to the ground. We talked with Suzanne Jones, a State Farm agent who had her own home partially burned and was evacuated just 10 minutes before flames struck. Jones then left to help her customers.

We then visited Crest, east of San Diego where 200 homes were destroyed. We stood at the top of a hill and saw Allstate and Farmers agents walking with policyholders through rubble and ash.

It was an awesome experience and one I will never forget. Our hearts go out to those who lost so much. A special thank you to the fire fighters who risked everything to extinguish terrible flames. And to the insurance agents, insurance company personnel, federal and state agencies, police and sheriff units and volunteers … thank you for a great job. The long rebuilding process now begins.

We’ll return to the burned areas in one year to see results of the insurance industry’s work at helping to put the lives of their policyholders back together.

Jerry Davies is director of communications for the Personal Insurance Federation of California. He can be reached at JDavies@pifc.org.

Topics California Agencies Claims Market