Insurance Company Hires Private Firefighters To Save Homes

I was kinda surprised no one picked up on this story...

Some homes threatened by a Colorado wildfire were protected by a private team of firefighters hired by an insurance company.

The Boulder Daily Camera reported Tuesday that the 13-person crew hired by Chubb Corp. was operating under an agreement the insurance company has with Boulder County. Chubb focuses on writing policies for high-end customers with high-value properties.

The contract firefighters hired by Chubb extinguished small fires on the properties, moved flammable furniture away from homes and closed windows that had been left open, the company said.

Should a wildfire ignite and come within three miles of the home or prompt an evacuation from the area, Chubb dispatches trained firefighters in certified wildland engines to the fire zone to protect customers' houses.

Story and video report: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/25 ... etail.html

Saw it on the news last night. Not all the homes they were trying to protect were high-end. And 3 of them burned anyway.

The more firefighters fighting a fire, the better I say.

I think it's a hell of a good idea.

http://www.disastersupportvolunteers.co ... php?t=8641

I agree - it IS a good idea. It protects the insured, it protects the insurance company, and if it saved some homes, all the better. The insurance will still pay out for the ones unsalvagable, but it's like adding insurance onto the insurance.

never a bad idea.

I read this the other day and thought it was a great idea. I might have to look at Chubb.

The Post did a big story on this today, I believe (in regard to the Fourmile Canyon Fire).

Willy wrote: I read this the other day and thought it was a great idea. I might have to look at Chubb.

You must have a high net worth for them to consider you. It is a little like having that black American Express card....not available to just anyone.

So i guess my questions here is where do these guys come from?
Are they trained and red carded?
Who sets the standards for their training?

I just don't want to see anyone in danger out there.

Mike Chard, director of the Boulder Office of Emergency Management, said Chubb isn't allowed to simply enter a fire zone whenever it likes and however it likes.

The company's access to any wildfire zone in Boulder County is part of a memorandum of understanding it hammered out with the county earlier this year. It is the only insurance company to have such an arrangement with the county, Chard said.

"The main purpose was to get this agreement so that the county knew exactly what was going into a fire zone," Chard said.

The agreement spells out that Chubb's firefighters can't use their resources to "perform structure firefighting" and are "not wildfire first responders." They are limited to undertaking "pre-suppression activities," which includes doing fuel mitigation, setting up sprinkler systems and spraying fire-blocking gels on homes.

The insurance company's firefighters must have all the proper credentials, training and equipment -- including compatible radios -- and must get clearance from the incident command post before entering the fire zone.

"We don't do anything without approval from incident command," Chubb's Hilgen said. "We don't move.

Read more: Fire crews for hire: Added protection during Fourmile blaze came at a price - Boulder Daily Camera http://www.dailycamera.com/fourmile-can ... z10MTuD13j
DailyCamera.com