Posted on 06/28/2007 5:49:48 AM PDT by I'll be your Huckleberry
No active ground fire only hot spots.
Little smoke at the lake only haze.
High winds predicted for today perhaps as early as 11 AM.
Light winds at the Lake at dawn.
200+ homes destroyed
75 commercial buildings
3,100 acres burnt
150 Million in damage
1 Injury
3000 evacuees
950 homes threatened
5.5 million in costs to fight fire
Low pressure moving in today with strong winds, but yesterday was a wonderful day.
Many people are back in their homes, air assault lasted all day.
Today the sky is clear and they will aggressively fight to keep it down when the winds come.
55% contained
Red flag warning today
Lake wind advisory today
Many locations in Reno to drop off water, pet food etc for victims
Day shift firefighters moving to start what may prove to be a long day.
Jay Leno pledges 10K for relief
Over 200K raised yesterday from local folks to help
Red flag warning today
Lake wind advisory today
Many locations in Reno to drop off water, pet food etc for victims
Day shift firefighters moving to start what may prove to be a long day.
Jay Leno pledges 10K for relief
Over 200K raised yesterday from local folks to help
Web Cams
http://www.tahoe360.com/flashmaps2/webcams.php
http://www.virtualtahoe.com/Cam.html
http://www.virtualtahoe.com/framesets/diamondpeak_cam_set.htm
Tahoe Fire Victims May Be Underinsured
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Property owners who suffer losses in the Angora fire could find that their insurance policies won’t provide enough money to cover rebuilding costs, state officials said Wednesday.
“There is a serious problem with underinsurance in the state of California,” Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said.
Many homeowners who thought they were fully insured found their policies left them tens of thousands _ sometimes hundreds of thousands _ of dollars short of what they needed to rebuild following fires that destroyed more than 3,600 homes in Southern California in 2003.
Dozens of homeowners told state officials after those blazes that insurance companies wrote their policies based on their estimate of a home’s replacement cost. In many cases, those estimates turned out to be grossly inadequate.
Poizner said his staff was still trying to determine if underinsurance will be a widespread problem for victims of the Lake Tahoe fire. He urged homeowners to meet with their insurance agents to determine if they have enough coverage.
Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, Poizner’s predecessor as insurance commissioner, said homeowners shouldn’t skimp on coverage to keep premiums low.
“That’s a bad deal,” he said. “Raise the deductible, but keep the policy high enough so that you can rebuild.”
A spokesman for Garamendi, Norman Williams, said legislation approved in 2004 modified insurance policy disclosure requirements in an attempt to give homeowners a better understanding of how much coverage their policies would provide.
“Most people had a policy that said ‘extended replacement cost coverage,’ which to many people was misunderstood and probably misleading,” Williams said. “We had them change it to ‘limited replacement cost coverage.’”
The bill also required insurers to give their customers a notice every other year about the need to guard against being underinsured.
“Previously, they didn’t have to say anything to homeowners about being underinsured,” Williams said. “Under the new provision, they have to provide them with information which explains underinsurance and how people should reassess regularly to ensure that their coverage meets their needs.”
___
California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has dispatched Damage Assessment and Disaster Fraud Response teams to Lake Tahoe to assist consumers with the losses from the Agora fire burning at Lake Tahoe. Meanwhile, a state insurance association is saying state laws that were passed in recent years should aid victims.
“The Lake Tahoe blaze has destroyed homes and left neighborhoods in ruin. This fire is a harsh reminder of the dangerous conditions that make the 2007 fire season potentially disastrous for California,” Poizner said. “The amount of damage caused by this wildfire is still being assessed, and I have dispatched key members of my staff to the area to equip local residents to help them recover from this disaster as quickly as possible.”
Poizner said the Disaster Fraud Response team will work with local law enforcement and make property owners aware of the potential for scam artists (i.e. unlicensed public adjusters, unlicensed contractors, etc.).
The Disaster Assessment Team, comprised of California Department of Insurance (CDI) staff and insurance company catastrophic loss adjusters, will help to determine the extent of the insured losses in the area and to determine if insurers will have the capacity to quickly adjust insurance claims and get money into the hands of those whose homes and other property were damaged or destroyed in the fire, he said.
According to Sam Sorich, president of the Association of California Insurance Companies, the following laws were implemented, in part, based on the lessons learned from the wildfires that swept through Southern California in 2003.
•AB 2199 – When a fire loss is the result of a “state of emergency” event, the time limit for replacing the destroyed structure is 24 months from the date of the first payment from the insurer. Effective Aug. 25, 2004.
•AB 2962 – An insurer is not allowed to cancel a policy while the primary insured structure is being rebuilt, except for existing statutory reasons for cancellation. When the total loss to the primary structure is caused by a government-declared disaster and was not due to the negligence of the insured, the insurer is required to offer to renew the policy. Effective Jan. 1, 2005.
•SB 64 – This law extends the authority of the Department of Insurance to establish mediation programs for victims of wildfires that are declared a state of emergency by the governor. Effective Aug. 30, 2004.
•AB 873 – This law requires insurers, after a loss, to provide policyholders, free of charge, copies of their policies within 30 days of the insurers’ receipt of the requests. Effective Jan. 1, 2006.
•SB 2 – In the event of an emergency, this law requires insurers to extend the coverage of additional living expenses up to 24 months, without increasing policy limits and without changing other policy conditions. Effective Jan. 1, 2007.
“Recent state laws have improved post-fire assistance, especially in cases – such as the Angora Fire – where a state of emergency has been declared. We sympathize with the victims of the latest fire. Insurers are already on the scene locating and providing immediate assistance to their policyholders who lost their homes in the Angora Fire,” Sorich said.
Update: 7:40 a.m.:
Web sites offer property status Clearinghouse to property owners to check the status of homes can be found at http://www.edso.org and http://www.cityofslt.us or visit the Lake Tahoe Community College administrative offices.
Beginning at 8 a.m. today, residents from Highway 50 to Wintoon with appropriate identification will be allowed to access their property via North Upper Truckee and Highway 50; residents from Wintoon to Sawmill Road should contact the local assistance center for re-entry information.
Update: 7:25 a.m.:
Weather conditions will be changing today with increasing southwesterly winds and decreasing humidity whichmay not be good news for firefighters, said Simon Smith, co-op weather observer for the National Weather service. On the other hand light wind will help to disperse the smoke which will make for better conditions for airquality and visibilities, Smith said. At 7:25 this morning thick smoke continues to clog much of the basin.
Under sunny skies, temperatures today will be in the upper 70s to near 80 with gusty southwest winds increasing by afternoon to 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 30 mph or higher.
Tonight winds will decrease somewhat and become relatively calm in the basin, however ridge winds will continue to blow but not as strong.
Lows will drop back down into the 40s. There may be some good news on the horizon by next week with lighter winds and even the remote possibility of some precipitation by the 4th of July or perhaps later.
Update: 7:10 a.m.:
Highways 50, 89 open.
Calm weather conditions have caused a dense amount of smoke over the Lake Tahoe Basin as more than 1,889 irefighters continue to work the Angora Fire. Early reports this morning indicate progress on the fire, which has consumed more than 2,730 acres and has burned at least 178 homes. The fire remains at 40 percent containment.
Some homeowners will be allowed to return to their properties today. The Tahoe Daily Tribune will be following events as they continue this morning. At 6 a.m. briefing this morning it was reported there are 12 helicopters, 145 engines and 54 crews on the fire, said Bridgitt Boysen, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.
All highway closures have been lifted. This includes Highway 50 and 89. The North Upper Truckee Road area to Winton is open this morning, however roads within the main burn area remain closed.
Local News shows it as calm and clearing,, here’s hoping they have it nailed.
Yes I hope so,
Winds are still light in the Valley, and light to calm at the lake.
I have to drive up this afternoon, so I will try to get some live shots.
winds are definitely up but it looks they were able to knock the hot spots down and hold them so far, here’s hoping this afternoons winds don’t blow some spots back to life
55% containment.
A sign is seen thanking firefighters is seen near the burned area that was in the path of the Angora fire Thursday, June 28, 2007, in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. A break in the wind allowed firefighters to gain ground on a stubborn wildfire near Lake Tahoe as they prepared for more blustery conditions forecast for Thursday. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
A sign is seen near a home in the burned area that survived the Angora fire Thursday, June 28, 2007, in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. A break in the wind allowed firefighters to gain ground on a stubborn wildfire near Lake Tahoe as they prepared for more blustery conditions forecast for Thursday. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Firefighter Ben Basque of California Department of Forestry drags a hose while working to extinguish embers after a wildfire swept through a residential area in South Lake Tahoe, California June 27, 2007. High winds expected at California's Lake Tahoe threaten to fan a raging wildfire that jumped a containment line after destroying hundreds of buildings and forcing thousands of people to evacuate the resort area, firefighters said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Max Whittaker (UNITED STATES)
West Sacramento Fire Captain Mike Francesconi's face is covered with soot from extinguishing hotspots in a burned out area in Meyers, California June 27, 2007. High winds expected at California's Lake Tahoe threaten to fan a raging wildfire that jumped a containment line after destroying hundreds of buildings and forcing thousands of people to evacuate the resort area, firefighters said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Max Whittaker (UNITED STATES)
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