Cambria’s Firewise status triggers insurance discount

July 04--Cambrians who insure their homes or businesses through USAA Insurance could get a 5 percent discount, thanks to the town's new status as a Firewise Community and dogged research by some participants in the Cambria FireSafe Focus Group.

Hard work by community members and officials, and an application process led by Bruce Fosdike of the Cambria FireSafe Focus Group, earned Cambria national Firewise Community status.

Since then, signs proclaiming that status were posted throughout town, reminding people that Cambria is at risk for wildfire. The town's neighborhoods are woven through a rare, native Monterey pine forest that's been hit hard by drought and infestations of fungal diseases, beetles and old age.

During the Firewise approval process, Fosdike was told that the new status could trigger fire-insurance discounts from one or more insurers. He later narrowed that down to USAA Insurance.

Getting that confirmed was one thing. Getting Cambria's new status linked to USAA's website was something else, and Focus Group participant Michael Walsh took on that task.

On June 19, Walsh emailed Fosdike and other Focus Group participants that he was "pleased to report that USAA has now included Cambria among their Firewise communities and offers a 5 percent premium discount to their homeowner policy holders in Cambria."

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