Firefighter Facilities Even Having Trouble Getting Fire Insurance
Sacramento, CA — California Senator Brian Dahle is raising awareness about a concerning issue related to securing fire insurance for multi-million dollar fire station projects.
The state is running into issues where proposals to improve outdated infrastructure, are being denied coverage, which creates financing issues.
It came up during a Senate Budget Subcommittee meeting while delving into capital outlay projects designed to modernize firefighter and emergency response operations.
An official with the California Department of Finance noted that an $11 million project in Tehama County at the CAL Fire Ishi Conservation Camp ran into some hurdles. CAL Fire was planning to fund the project with bonds but had to look for other revenue sources because it couldn’t insure the facility to the underwriters required level, and the Fair Plan, of last resort, also doesn’t meet the bond underwriters requirements.
Dahle, a Republican, indicates that light needs to be shined on this situation, to get the attention of other lawmakers. He says, “There is a story right here. We can’t get fire insurance at a fire station that is going to be manned by firefighters. That is where we are in California. That, to me, is just crazy.”
Over just the past couple of months, State Farm announced that it is dropping tens of thousands of existing customers, and American National said it is leaving the state entirely, leaving several people forced to sign up for the Fair Plan.
There have been actions from the state’s Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara related to reforms, but the state has struggled to make any type of dent in curbing the rising fire insurance crisis.
