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fire fighting insurance

Volunteer Fire Fighting Coverage – “Is this something I need?”

fire-fighting-coverage-agri-shield
As most of you have seen, the fires in BC have been problematic again this year. The summer was dry and fires spread ferociously. In Saskatchewan, we had a few grass fires as well. They were not as severe, however they did cause a fair amount of natural damage and kept the fire departments busy.

These wildfires can be very hard to contain. One fire department is usually not enough and it takes a “village,” so to speak, to put these fires out or contain them. For every department that shows up, they will generally have both a call out fee and an hourly fee based on how long they were on the scene. In most urbanized centers, your taxes will include the costs of a fire call-out. However, in the rural areas or smaller towns, there may often be an invoice for these services that you are responsible for. This is something you should look into with your local RM or  Municipal office.

Prairie Grass fire
In our local Saskatchewan departments, the average call-out fee is around $1200. The hourly rate is close to $1000 per hour. This means that if you had a house fire, shop fire, machinery fire or grass fire that you were responsible for, and one department spent 10 hours on the site putting out the fire, you could end up with an invoice of over $10,000. Now imagine the fire spreads to other locations and now 2 or 3 local department show up. This could end up being $20,000-$30,000. This seems far fetched, but we had 2 fires this year alone where the fire departments reported invoices of close to $20,000 and $40,000. The invoice usually gets sent to the land or property owner where the fire originated. So even though the fire did minimal damage on your property, if it spreads to other people’s property, you can still be on the hook for all the firefighting costs.

Local Fire Department Saskatchewan
To protect yourself from these potential costs, you can add volunteer fire fighting coverage to your home/farm policy. Most RM administrators are recommending around $20,000 coverage for potential losses. Some insurance companies bundle this coverage with other packages to make them more flexible. For example, with My Mutual Insurance, you can purchase an “
Agri-Shield” product which includes: Volunteer Fire Fighting, Debris Removal, Farm Building Contents – including Tack, and Tool Coverage. This package starts at a limit of $60,000, however, it can be increased. The reason that this is more flexible is that you can either use the full $60,000 for fire fighting if needed, or you break down the coverage as needed. For example, you have a shop fire and you need $10,000 for fire fighting, $25,000 for tools, $10,000 for debris removal and $10,000 for misc. farm contents. This coverage can be split up to reach those individual limits up to the total limit you have selected. Another potential scenario is a grass fire is starting on your land and you end up needing $40,000 to pay for fire fighting costs – this would all be covered under this package.

If you were to buy these coverages individually ($60,000 fire fighting, $60,000 tools, and $60,000 debris removal) this premium would end up being much more than the Agri-Shield product. Please give us a call if you would like to learn more about this product or would like to add these coverages to your policy.

If there is a wildfire, do I have enough coverage to properly protect my belongings and fire fighting charges?

pexels-photo-260367Being in Saskatchewan, we are exposed to every type weather element. Hail, Wind, Extreme Heat, Rain, Snow, Ice, etc. When some of these items combine together, disaster is inevitable.

A couple years ago, we had a very dry spring, and along with our constant wind, we had some extreme forest fire situations in Northern Saskatchewan. BC is experiencing a wave of forest fires this year as well, and they are extremely difficult to contain. Thanks to the many firefighters and volunteers who risk their lives to help put these fires out.

wildfire-helicopter

In Saskatchewan, during the fall around harvest time, the ground, grass, crops can all become quite dry. With the dry vegetation and the warm weather, the conditions are primed for a potential grass fire. When working in the fields, having a campfire or doing any kind of work outside, a fire extinguisher should be kept close by the working area. By having this handy, you will be able to put out any initial spark; which can be a small but large way to prevent a potential fire.

If a fire does occur, it is important that you carry the appropriate coverage on your policy for any potential losses. If you reside in an urban area, you should check with your village, town or city to make sure your taxes cover any fire department charges there could be – for attending a fire that you would be responsible for. If you reside in a rural area, your local fire department will respond, but there is a good chance that you will be responsible for the charges for the call out and any work the fire department does to put out the fire. If you happen to live near multiple RM’s or Towns/Cities, multiple departments can show up to a fire, and the costs for these services can be quite hefty.  Just for one fire department to show up, the call-out fee can be upwards of $1200 and then an additional $800-$1000 per hour for dealing with the fire.

wildfire_3

To cover these costs, you can purchase “Volunteer Fire Fighting” on your home/farm policy. Some insurance companies include $2000, $5000 or $10,000 of coverage for this. Please check with us to make sure you have this coverage and that it is adequate for your area. We strongly encourage you talk to your local RM office to see what the fire fighting costs are and what amount people generally carry on their policies. Depending on your area, you may want to carry at least $15-20,000 of coverage to be sure you have adequate coverage.

As always, if you have any questions about this coverage, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our insurance professionals.

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