First, they lost their home insurance. Then, the LA fire burned their homes
Last year, Francis Vichetty said he learned that the annual cost of homeowner insurance purchased from Farmers Insurance for Pacific Palisades homes would soar from $4,500 to $18,000. Nor was he able to sign up for the low-benefit California fair plan, as the 55-year-old private secretary said 10 trees around the roof line had to be cut down to lower the risk of fires that were too costly to manage. So he decided to take a job called 'bare' where he didn't buy coverage for his home in the community's Elmedio neighborhood. He thought that if he water his home year-round, he would be protected enough because it was located south of Sunset Boulevard. That was not the case. The home he lived in for nearly his entire life burned Tuesday, along with more than 10,000 other homes and structures damaged or destroyed in the worst fire event in Los Angeles history. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed across the county. "It was surreal," he said. "I've been grow...