Free Republic

When devastating wildfires erupted across Los Angeles County this week, David Torgerson’s team of firefighters went to work. The thousands of city, county and state firefighters dispatched to battle the blazes went wherever they were needed. The crews from Torgerson’s Wildfire Defense Systems, however, set out for particular addresses. Armed with hoses, fire-blocking gel and their own water supply, the Montana-based outfit contracts with insurance companies to defend the homes of customers who buy policies that include their services. It’s a win-win if the private firefighters succeed in saving a home, said Torgerson, the company’s founder and executive chairman. The...

LOS ANGELES — Adam Leber was nodding off in his Hollywood Hills mansion late Wednesday night when his housekeeper jolted him awake with an urgent message: There’s a fire at the door. Leber — a talent manager whose clients have included Miley Cyrus and Lil Nas X — opened his door and looked. Sure enough, “The entire hillside was on fire,” he said. “It was insane.” Orange-red flames sprung up everywhere, spitting embers dangerously close. Without thinking, he and his wife scooped up their dogs and 3-year-old daughter, threw some belongings in their car and drove east, to take refuge...