Insurance/Recovery Tip:

When hiring a contractor it's generally better to find your own trusted contractor than using the contractor recommended by the insurance company. Because they have a previous relationship (and potentially a future relationship) they are generally more worried about pleasing the insurance company than pleasing you. You should also make sure the contractor does not talk directly to the insurance company. All communication should go through you so you know exactly what is going on.

 

The creator of the website www.contractorsfromhell.com has suggested doing the following research before hiring a contractor:

1. Check the status of the license at the CSLB Website
2. Check to see if the contractor has a history of placing liens on the properties he works on at the County Recorder's office of your county any surrounding counties.
3. Check to see if they've been a party in any lawsuits through the local court system of your county any surrounding counties.
4. Check them out through the Better Business Bureau.

For more tips go to their website and click on Tips On Hiring Home Remodeling Contractors

 

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Bill and Marisa Rastetter of Rancho Santa Fe are convinced that their 5,400-square-foot home would have been destroyed during the October wildfires if not for a homeowner's insurance policy that offers an extra level of protection in wealthier neighborhoods. 

[more at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/wildfires/20080325-9999-1n25spray.html ]

CREST – The embers were still glowing after the Cedar fire swept through Crest in 2003 when Deena Raver began helping her neighbors who had lost their homes.

 

More than four years later, Raver is still working with fire victims. Relying on all she learned in the aftermath of the Cedar fire, Raver is now helping people rebuilding after the blazes that devastated San Diego County in October.

[more at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080405/news_1ez5raver.html ]

When Twin Peaks resident Karen Brewer started up the hill last Thursday afternoon, she spotted a large plume of smoke. “I thought it was a car fire,” she said. She saw a few cars that had pulled over and realized it was grass that was on fire.

 

“I saw five different smoking areas,” Brewer said. She pulled over and grabbed some water bottles she had in her car.

[more at: http://crestlinecourier-news.com/articles/2008/04/03/news/news2.txt ]

SILVERADO CANYON - Home and property owners in fire-prone areas may now have the help of federal dollars to remove brush and debris from their properties as the Orange County Fire Authority begins rolling out its recommendations to better protect the county's most vulnerable areas in the wake of the Santiago fire.

[more at: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fire-canyon-residents-2009893-homes-authority ]

The two Culver City residents charged with causing the November Corral Fire will appear in Van Nuys Superior Court on Thursday for their arraignment. Eric Matthew Ullman, 18, and Dean Allen Lavorante, 19, had their first day in court on Feb. 14 before Judge Michael K. Kellogg. They did not issue pleas, although their attorneys said after the hearing that any wrongdoing that occurred on Nov. 24 was not criminal.

[more at: http://malibutimes.com/articles/2008/04/02/news/newsbriefs.txt ]

The Lake Tahoe Angora Fire Fund received $130,650 from Harrah's and Harveys
Lake Tahoe today.

[more at: http://tahoedailytribune.com/article/20080326/NEWS01/490049165 ]