Do You Have Adequate Fire Insurance On Your Cabin In Big Bear?

Most people think that the arrival of November is the start of the holiday season. After all, Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. When I think of November, I think of the Santa Ana winds. There hasn't been a year that has gone by without the Santa Ana winds howling through the Inland Empire in November. It never fails that as soon as the Santa Ana winds start to blow, fires seem to break out. There are times when these winds blow down a power line and this is the reason for the fire. But in many cases, these fires start because of some sick arsonist.

November 24, 1980 is a day that is etched into my brain for the rest of my life. That particular morning I received a phone call from my younger brother. He was needing some help repairing a fence that had blown down as a result of the high winds that had been blowing since early that morning. I had to fight the winds as i drove to his home in North Park. North Park is a newer residential community in the northern section of the city of San Bernardino. As I arrived, I mentioned to my brother that I had noticed some light smoke coming from the mountains in the direction of Waterman Canyon. Neither of us gave the smoke much thought as we went about fighting the wind and worked on the fence. I don't recall how long I had been there, but it didn't seem like I had been there very long. Out of what seamed like no where, the skies suddenly turned black with smoke. The smoke was so thick and so black that it was hard to see 3 feet in front of you. We both scrambled for the house to get out of this smoke, only to find that the homes across the street were fully engulfed in flames. In no time, the winds blew the fire that started at the Panorama Point in Waterman Canyon had been blown into the residential homes. The high wind was blowing hot embers directly at us so we grabbed a few of his things and got out of there as quickly as we could. Thinking that once we got into our cars, we could get away from the flames and smoke. We were mistaken! In every direction that we looked, you saw nothing but thick black smoke and the orange glow of the fire.

By the time the Panorama Fire was contained, the firestorm had destroyed 280 homes and burned 23,800 acres. Four people lost their lives in a fire that was later determined to be caused by an arsonist

In 2003 the region suffered yet another devastating fire. This fire, known as "the Old Fire" burned 91,281 acres, destroyed 993 homes and killed six people. This fire was also started by an arsonist.

If you live in Big Bear or any of the other mountain communities in Southern California you live with the threat of fire. When the Santa Ana winds start up, it only increases the threat.

Let's get back to the original question in this blog. Do you have adequate fire insurance on your mountain get a way in Big Bear? There is a large number of home owners that purchased their Big Bear cabin before 2004. These homeowners paid much less for their cabins than most homeowners did after 2004. So, let me ask you this. How many of these home owners have kept their fire insurance in line with the current replacement cost of their cabin? I don't have that answer, but my guess is that there are quite a few cabins through-out the Big Bear valley that are under insured. Wouldn't it be better for you to check with your insurance carrier and make sure that you have adequate coverage before the need arises?

Imagine this. You come home from work and sit down to watch the evening news. It is then that you find out that there is a wind fed fire raging through the Big Bear Valley and that your cabin is being threatened. If it turns out that your cabin was lost to the fire, do you have a inventory of it's contents? Most insurance companies are going to ask for your inventory before they start paying for things. If you haven't completed an itemized inventory of the contents of the cabin, you should take the time and do it.. By making the inventory ahead of time, you're going to do a much better job of compiling an accurate list of your personal belongings. Your other option is to try to reconstruct the interior of your cabin in your head and try to remember everything that you had in the cabin. There are software programs out there, some that are free that make it easier to organize your inventory. If you have a video camera, you might find it easier to go through each home and document what you own with a video recorder.

Once your inventory is complete, take it with you. Don't leave it in the cabin. Store the inventory in a safe deposit box or a fire proof safe. With any luck, you will never need to use it, but in the event that you have a fire, you will be thankful that you took the time to complete an itemized inventory of your property ahead of time.