California experienced rampant fires last year, which caused serious damage to people’s property.

According to NBC, California’s fires last year were the worst in the country. Reportedly, 1.8 million acres burned in 2018, which was reportedly the worst year in California wildfire history. 

Though natural disasters may make people feel hopeless, if you experienced property damage in a California wildfire, you could receive compensation for your damages. Experienced property damage lawyers can help advocate for you to make sure you are fairly compensated as you file a damage claim with your insurance provider.

Multiple fires raged through California, last year, including:

• Camp Fire
• Hill Fire
• Thomas Fire
• Woolsey Fire
• Others

Cal Fire provides a map of California wildfires that burned through the state or are still burning, which can help residents take stock of what feels like an overwhelming and bewildering problem.  

2018 California Wildfire History

Late last year, California was hit with the Woolsey Fire, which burned in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. It started on Nov. 8, 2018. Three people were killed in the fire, and over 295,000 people were evacuated.  It burned 96,949 acres of land and destroyed 1,643 structures. By Nov. 21, the fire was contained, but its damage was widely felt.

Before Woolsey Fire, other fires ravaged California earlier last year, which was part of why last year was the worst in California wildfire history. One such fire was the Thomas Fire, which was even larger than Woolsey Fire. The Thomas Fire lasted for over a month and burned almost 300,000 acres, and destroyed over 1,000 structures. Homes, structures, landscapes, trees, and vegetation were decimated.

Making an Insurance Claim Over Fire Damage

Many people are facing extensive damage due to wildfires, but filing an insurance claim can help people recover from the losses they may incur.

Experienced wildfire attorneys can help you gain far compensation for your property damage done by California wildfires. If you have already begun to make a claim or if you have not yet started the process of filing a claim, a lawyer can help you through the process. Even if you have already received a claim and you don’t think the amount was enough, a lawyer may be able to help you possibly gain more compensation.

Typically, the full value of homes and buildings are covered by property insurance policies. However, landscapes and trees are not typically fully covered by such policies. In fact, only 5 percent of insurance policies are allotted for tree damage.

Some people who are facing fire damage may not know that their trees and landscapes may not be covered by their insurance policy. In some cases, old mature trees can provide enormous value, and can be very useful to a property, so their loss will be acutely felt by property owners.

Though compensation for old growth trees is usually not the value of the trees, lawyers can help advocate for you to receive fair compensation for both property and tree damage.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.