Wildfire Defense Service Preserves Homes

The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies has saved customers' homes in Northern California and Montana as a result of dispatching its Wildfire Defense Service to dozens of residences in these regions.

As the Gap Fire continues to threaten policyholders' homes near Santa Barbara, CA, Chubb's Wildfire Defense Service visits the properties to monitor the situation. When a spot fire broke out 100 yards from one policyholder's property, the service contacted unified incident command, which responded by creating a fire line with two bulldozers and attacking the spot fire with fire engines. Chubb's Wildfire Defense Service personnel then applied fire-blocking gel to the policyholders' house. The combined actions resulted in saving not only the multimillion-dollar home and surrounding farm but an entire block of properties.

"The Chubb team and the local fire department were single-handedly responsible for saving my home," said Christi Sulzbach, who lives on the 50-acre organic farm in Goleta. "It wasn't just about losing a house; it was about losing a lifestyle in Goleta."

When Sulzbach was finally able to return to her home, she was reportedly pleased that the fire-blocking gel used to protect the house had been cleaned up. "Chubb was extraordinary in its service, its follow up and its follow through," she said.

Just hours later, a separate fire threatened the home of two doctors in Billings, MT. Chubb's Wildfire Defense Service arrived at the house at 3 a.m., quickly assessed the situation and established a property perimeter sprinkler system to prevent the fire from reaching the structure. The policyholders, who were on call, were relieved and able to better focus on their professional duties.

"The fire was just one-quarter of a mile from our home," said Dr. Bonnie Dean. "They mobilized two firefighters and a truck and put a sprinkler system into place and were ready to apply fire-blocking gel, if needed. If the wind had shifted, we would have needed to activate the system. We also learned a lot about what we need to do to better secure our home from any future wildfire risk."

Established earlier this year by Chubb and Montana-based Wildfire Defense Systems Inc., the wildfire defense service is helping to protect the homes of Chubb policyholders in 13 states through a network of highly trained, certified wildfire fighters and highly effective fire-blocking gel. The service is available in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

"To date, more than 10,000 of our policyholders have signed up for Chubb's Wildfire Defense Service," said Scott Spencer, senior vice president, Chubb & Son, and worldwide loss prevention manager, Chubb Personal Insurance. "We've mailed enrollment forms to all of our homeowners policyholders in the 13 affected states, and we are encouraging all of them to enroll in this innovative and complimentary loss prevention service."

Enrollment forms and additional information about the program also can be obtained at www.chubb.com/personal under Catastrophe Response Center.