Calif. could be first to create smoke-damage standards

Two smoke-damage bills awaiting the governor's signature address a longstanding issue brought to the fore by the Los Angeles County fires: When is it safe for wildfire survivors to move back into their homes?

After the deadly January 2025 fires, which destroyed more than 16,000 structures, the state Insurance Department estimates that more than 13,000 out of 40,000 claims involved smoke damage.

The fires burned for nearly a month. Debris and emissions contained a mixture of trees, brush and manufactured materials made up of plastics, metals and more — raising concerns about toxic contents left in homes that are still standing but may be dangerous to live in.

Many survivors with homes that did not burn down have yet to return to them 21 months later. Their homes reeked of smoke and they found ash, soot and char inside. They await test results for things such as lead and asbestos. They wait for homes to be repaired, cleaned up and cleared of toxic materials after months of back-and-forth with their insurance companies. Along the way, fire survivors, experts and insurers have all pointed to the lack of standards around smoke damage.

Assembly Bill 1642 will set "a first-in-the-nation standard for testing and remediation," said Assemblymember John Harabedian, a Pasadena Democrat, about the bill he authored. Remediation is the removal of contaminants or hazards, and fixing possible ill effects.

The bill passed in conjunction with Assembly Bill 1795, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gipson, a Gardena Democrat. Gipson's legislation will incorporate the new standards and require insurance companies to abide by them. The governor has until the end of the month to sign both bills; one cannot become law without the other.

"We were hearing from survivors that they weren't getting a fair shake from their insurance companies," Harabedian told CalMatters. "Kudos to survivor groups that worked with us on this. We hope others don't have to go through what they went through."

The bills are just two of several pieces of legislation to come out of the Eaton and Palisades fires meant to set clearer standards, hold insurers accountable and improve the recovery process after a wildfire.

Smoke damage figures prominently in lawsuits and legal actions against two big insurers in California: State Farm, which insures about 20% of the state's property insurance market, and the last-resort FAIR Plan. The insurance department has accused both of delaying and denying smoke-damage claims.

Los Angeles County sued State Farm last week, alleging unfair business practices in its handling of claims from the 2025 fires. The lawsuit cited the findings of the insurance department's investigation, including that the company denied or discouraged requests for environmental testing and refused to reimburse policyholders for testing they paid for themselves. Also among the allegations was that for standing homes, the company sent preferred restoration companies that typically "offered an inadequate and unsafe cleaning method."

State Farm "strongly disagrees" with the county lawsuit's characterization of the company's claims response, said spokesperson Sevag Sarkissian.

Kareem Ali's Altadena home is one of the few left standing on his cul-de-sac, but he and his wife haven't been able to move back in.

Instead, they have been living in a donated RV on their property since August.

State Farm paid for them to live in other places from January 2025 until April of this year, when the insurer refused to reimburse them for rent at an $8,000-a-month one-bedroom that it had recommended to Ali. Ali quit paying rent then, and the rent for May, June and July is unpaid.

As for their smoke-damaged home, State Farm denied their request for environmental testing, so they paid $3,000 out of pocket for it. The insurer declined to reimburse them, and has since delayed and denied claims for cleanup. Some of the delays are because the insurer has assigned at least six or seven adjusters to their case, Ali said.

"Every time we got some sort of momentum on our claim, they'd randomly switch," he said.

So Ali said they spent the money that the company has given them so far for their personal belongings coverage. They hired contractors to clean, remove insulation and replace the carpet. When they told State arm more repairs are needed but they ran out of money, the insurer denied their claim, he said.

Meanwhile, they've continued to pay State Farm their monthly premiums. Ali said he asked their adjuster: "What are we paying for if we're not going to get coverage?"

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