Report: Insurers hired private firefighters for wealthy clients amid Wine Country fires

The Nuns fire creeps towards Sonoma Valley Oct. 17, 2017 in Kenwood, Calif. A report from the Wall Street Journal said that privatized firefighters were deployed by insurance companies during the Wine Country fires, to help protect homes for clients. less The Nuns fire creeps towards Sonoma Valley Oct. 17, 2017 in Kenwood, Calif. A report from the Wall Street Journal said that privatized firefighters were deployed by insurance companies during the Wine Country ... more Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 92 Caption Close Report: Insurers hired private firefighters for wealthy clients amid Wine Country fires 1 / 92 Back to Gallery

Wealthy homeowners whose properties were threatened during last month's Wine Country fires were able to enact a lesser-known perk in their insurance policies.

A private firefighting service.

During the fires that claimed 43 lives and destroyed 8,889 structures in the North Bay in October, insurers such as Chubb and American International Group Inc., deployed private firefighting groups to make sure certain clients had homes to return to, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

Turning over photographic evidence and keeping in contact with homeowners, these firefighting services coordinate with local firefighters, with the goal of trying to stop the fires from spreading to certain addresses under an insurance provider's protective umbrella.

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The price of that protection? Policyholders could pay "anywhere from thousands of dollars in annual premiums" to "more than $100,000" depending on the property and other items covered, according to the Wall Street Journal.

These firefighting groups were often sent to addresses before the flames were at a property's doorstep. They would clear away flammable items around the outside of the homes, such as brush, patio furniture and leaves in gutters. Sprinkler systems were set up outdoors by the groups, and occasionally a fire retardant would be deployed around (or on) the house.

Cal Fire told the Wall Street Journal they often coordinate with the insurance crews, who aren't necessarily holding the fire hoses when a fire approaches.

"[Our employees are] working before the fire and after the fire doing supplemental roles to prepare the structures to be more survivable, and then check on them very quickly after the fire passes," Wildfire Defense Systems President David Torgerson, whose company contracts with United States Automobile Association told Marketplace in 2015.

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The practice of employing these groups is a relatively recent one, with insurance companies starting to take on firefighting duties around 2005, according to the New York Times. AIG first offered the protection to areas of California and Colorado, then expanded to more clientele, attributing it to more homeowners moving into "areas that have burned historically."

Other companies have since gotten into the privatized firefighting game, like Chubb in 2008. The Wall Street Journals says "tens of thousands" nationwide are now covered by these types of services.

The total insured losses from October's wildfires were expected to top $3 billion, according to the California Department of Insurance.