It’s a perfect storm for fire insurance

Westerners have begun looking at their homes differently these days. Are those trees too close? Should I move all that firewood stacked up next to the deck?  

Meanwhile, in California, some fire insurers have lost so much money they’ve pulled out of the state. Overall, fire insurance is becoming as expensive and unpredictable as the natural disasters — not just wildfires but also hail and windstorms — that are driving up rate increases. In some places, increases are as much as 1,000% for houses and condos nestled close to trees.  

In Colorado, Tiffany Lockwood said she was dropped twice by fire insurance carriers over the 10 years she’s lived in Evergreen, a heavily forested exurb of Denver.