10/14/2023
Ask your agent to review your policy to make sure you have what you need.
Guest Post from Agency owner Aaron Baaske
As fire prevention week comes to an official close, I was sharing some thoughts with our team about the connection between fires and the insurance industry. We have come a long way, but it may surprise you to know how we got here.
Fortunately, many of us do not think much about fires and loss these days. Thatโs not how it always was. Years ago, fire was one of the biggest threats to individuals and intuitions, especially within cities.
1๏ธโฃ Homes were made of wood and often built close together, especially in cities. Even if businesses were built with brick and mortar, their contents were often highly flammable.
2๏ธโฃ Access to fire safety services was much harder to come by than it is today.
One of the things that most people donโt know, is that the start of the insurance industry really began as a direct result of the โGreat Firesโ. In those early days, without the firefighting resources, not everyone could be taken care of.
๐ฅ London, four days of devastation in Spring of 1666. Wiping out more than 80% of the city, 13,000 buildings, homes and churches. As many as 100,000 people were left homeless. It took 30 years to rebuild
๐ฅ New York, Summer of 1776. One of the revolutionary officers decided to burn the city rather than fight the colonists. Almost 500 houses burned down, and many invaders died.
๐ฅ Chicago, Oct 1871. Because of another fire on the previous day, the fire brigade was exhausted, so warning signals and information were not taken seriously enough. 17,000 buildings burned, 300 people died.
๐ฅ Boston, 1872. The blaze engulfed 65 acres and 776 buildings in Bostonโs downtown, thirty people died, $73.5 million in damage.
After these events, words like fear, loss, panic and complete devastation were the way people considered fire and its effect. No longer was it just to keep the family warm, to cook over and to have fellowship with others when having a gathering outside. The city of London, and for that matter, the world, would never look at fire quite the same way again.
Some good things came from the fires though. In the wake of the great fires of London, the famed Llyods of London was established to provide property insurance to residents of the city.
In the mid 1700s as the American Colonies grew, they adopted a similar concept. Benjamin Franklin helped to organize one of the most successful mutual insurance ventures, the Philadelphia Contributionship. It was known at the time by the name of its symbol, "hand in hand".
In those days, you had to have an insurance policy for the fire department to even show up to your home. Otherwise, they would just let it burn. YIKES!
Like modern insurers, the company sent inspectors to evaluate properties whose owners were applying for coverage and required them to meet standards. Rates were based on a risk assessment of the property. They issued seven-year policies, and claims were paid out of a capital reserve fund.
Today, fire is something we don't worry much about as our homes and businesses are monitored, we generally have plenty of space between the buildings to prevent spreading, and should a fire erupt, it is typically less than 11 minutes nationwide.
Personally, Iโm very glad that fire has become less of a threat than it used to be. Especially with those early fires, there was such devastating loss in a widespread area.
However, we should never forget the lessons of the past. Namely, we cannot always predict when a fire will start, and the lasting effects of fire are not limited to the smoke and flames.
When the fire department arrives, they will spray hundreds of gallons of water on the fire, which in and of itself has its own destructive ability.
Although much less prevalent today, that does not mean they are non-existent. With distracted living and so much vying for our attention, the possibility of fire, especially in our home, it is more important than ever to be prepared.
Cooking is the leading cause of house fires in the nation, along with electrical malfunction and faulty heating equipment, make it a priority to know that you are covered before, during and after the holidays.
If you have not done so recently, sit down with our team and letโs review the coverages on your homeowner's policy. The difference between you being adequately insured and not can be quite significant.
It is our responsibility to ensure you have the coverage you need when you need it, not just to replace your home, but also to replace your personal items as well.
