Helpful Hints

Make a Home Video

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In speaking with our friends who lost their homes in the CZU fire, one of the things they keep mentioning is how difficult it has been dealing with their insurance companies. Here are some of their helpful suggestions of an action to take now.

• Go through each room and take videos or photos of everything in the room. Open all the drawers and take pics of the contents. Do the same in your garage and any outbuildings. If possible, try to take photos of the serial numbers of the more substantial items. If video is used, remember to date stamp all documents with the date of the recording. Back up everything on the Cloud.

• While not needed for insurance purposes, this is a good idea: scan and back up the following documents:

  • Driver’s licenses

  • Birth certificates

  • Marriage certificate

  • Insurance documents

 

Fun with FEMA

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If you have the very unfortunate experience of losing your home in a fire, one of the challenges you will face is dealing with FEMA.  Here is a list of the information they will require to process your claim:

• Social Security numbers

• Household income

• Contact info

• Property damage info and emergency needs

• New address

 

Fire Apps

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Here are some useful apps that you should consider adding.

• Cruz Aware is a system designed to deliver emergency notifications to Santa Cruz County residents. To sign up, visit CruzAware.org to access the registration portal. You should also text your zip code to 888777 to sign up for alerts. 

• Watch Duty provides up-to-date geo-mapping of wildfire events. Watch Duty has been a lifeline for many people in wildfire-prone communities since it was created in 2021. This non-profit app provides regularly updated data on wildfires in 22 states and allows the user to zoom down to individual homes.

• Windfinder projects maximum wind levels over time, which is vital if a wildfire has broken out and may be threatening your home, depending upon the wind velocity and direction.

 

Defensible Space

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Fire-resistant architecture and defensible open space around homes are credited with saving some homes from the devastation of the Palisades and Eaton/Altadena fires. Wind-assisted wildfires can rain down millions of embers, resulting in a higher likelihood of home ignition in general, said California Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant. Still, research from past fires has shown that fire-hardened homes with good defensible space have a double-digit increase in their chances of surviving, he said. “Home-hardening efforts are absolutely critical.” The idea is to keep flames and heat away from a home and reduce the likelihood of embers finding a weak spot to enter and burn it from the inside. Measures can include anything from choosing fire-resistant building materials to adding mesh screening to vents and chimneys and closing gaps around exposed rafters. Clearing vegetation and debris from around a home is also key, Berlant said. These efforts don’t have to be expensive, he said, pointing to a list of low-cost retrofits from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which is attached.