TRUCKEE
When Serene Lakes homeowner Chase Cambron spent years clearing defensible space and hardening his home against wildfire, he wasn’t chasing a discount. He’d lived through the 2017 Tubbs Fire, which destroyed his primary home in Santa Rosa, and didn’t want to risk losing another. That work has since moved him off the California FAIR Plan and onto a standard homeowners policy with Mercury Insurance, saving him roughly $7,000 a year.
Cambron also earned the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s (IBHS) Wildfire Prepared Home designation last year, the subject of a Truckee Fire Protection District (TFPD) release in May. However, Mercury representatives say it was the underlying mitigation work, not the certificate itself, that made the difference.
Mercury representatives say Cambron’s extensive property-level mitigation was central to the company’s wildfire-risk evaluation. “I’d been rejected four times because of my zip code, even though the house in Santa Rosa is built to wildland-urban interface standards,” Cambron said. “Being able to submit photos and not be treated like a number in a zip code has been a completely different experience.”
Cambron’s story isn’t an isolated case. Truckee Fire has completed more than 43,000 comprehensive defensible space and home hardening inspections across the district, using the Fire Aside software inspection platform to document results and provide homeowners with an actionable report of wildfire-risk reduction activities.
Truckee Fire encourages residents interested in following Cambron’s path to:
- Schedule a free, in-person defensible space evaluation with Truckee Fire at truckeefire.org/dspace. Ask about the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home program if interested.
- Complete home hardening upgrades using Truckee Fire’s Home Hardening Rebate Program, which reimburses 50% of eligible costs, up to $2,000.
- Talk to an insurance agent about wildfire mitigation discounts. Mercury’s wildfire mitigation resources are available at mercuryinsurance.com/local/california/homeowners-insurance/wildfire-mitigation.
~ Truckee Fire Protection District press release
