Decision times begin soon for newly homeless fire victims
As the flames of
=Some evacuees had homes to return to; some did not. This was almost like a random lottery. But those whose homes fell to the mid-January firestorms suddenly face decisions they never wanted to think about.
The questions are no different from those that confronted victims of many fires over the last few years, but are made different and maybe more difficult because of scale. Never before have more than 10,000-plus fire victim households faced these issues simultaneously.
Do they rebuild, or do they sell the land long occupied by their ravaged homes? Do they settle for what insurance companies are willing to pass out, or hire a lawyer? With insurance companies bringing claims adjusters from around the nation, many of them unfamiliar with
=Amid a housing shortage, do they seek a temporary rental or try to buy something in what is fast becoming a seller’s market? Do they want to keep living in what proved to be a hazardous environment, no matter how benign it seemed for previous decades?
The paths many will choose were eased only a little by an executive order issued by Gov.
But what about folks in their 70s and 80s? One 85-year-old
Younger homeowners will for the most part rebuild, as has happened with most residents of other fire-ravaged areas from
Whether in
To obtain fire insurance when they do that, they will have to use fire-resistant materials not commonly employed in earlier eras when most of the destroyed homes were built. Stone and Spanish tile roofs will be more common. So will fireproof siding. Finer screens will be deployed over vents where flying embers sometimes enter homes and ignite attics. Landscaping will employ more fire-resistant vegetation and fewer trees that can fall or spread flames. Nothing on the exterior will be placed even near to most walls.
Homes and buildings thus will more resemble small forts than ever before in
The entire process, replete with permitting delays and contractor cost overruns in the coming boom construction market, will take more than five years, during which whole sections of cities will be grossly underpopulated.
There will be scams and gouging galore, even though some hotels and merchants now are offering deep discounts to fire evacuees. Some lawyers will demand unethically large percentages of insurance settlements. Imposter contractors will collect deposits, only to disappear.
So one watchword for the rebuilding will be “caveat emptor” let the buyer beware.
But
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