Tuesday started like any other week day for Kevin Parker, 41, a resident of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles. Though he was aware of some smoke in the area, wildfires aren't uncommon in California, and he wasn't overly concerned. His daughter's school said they were monitoring the situation, and he headed to his office in Santa Monica as usual.
Soon, though, the day took a devastating turn, as wildfires intensified due to ferocious Santa Ana winds and started to rip through the idyllic neighborhood; Parker's wife rushed to pick up their daughter, 9, from school, and Parker headed home to pack up essentials including their passports and birth certificates so they could evacuate.
By the afternoon, they, along with their dog, were in nearby Santa Monica, spending the night in a Marriott and praying for reports on the status of the destruction. But information was scarce, and the family was left unsure if they would have a home to return to in the morning. Neighbors traded what little they knew in WhatsApp groups, but all most people had to share were anxious questions.
The next day, Wednesday, Parker's wife and daughter drove to a family member's home in Palm Springs, while he circumvented street closures and emergency vehicles in order to hike 45 minutes up to his neighborhood, where he found his home, which he and his family have lived in since 2019, in "a fine rubble." Just 26 hours after he last left, his and most of his neighbors' homes were completely burned to the ground. He took photos and videos to share in WhatsApp.
"It's completely gone. It's all shock at that point," Parker tells Fortune. "But it was really good to get some certainty and get some closure."
Parker and his family are victims of what analysts say will be one of the costliest wildfire disasters in the history of California—fires that have destroyed thousands of structures, killed at least five, and continue to burn. A J.P. Morgan Insurance analysis estimates insured losses could exceed $20 billion, while AccuWeather estimates damages at a minimum of $52 billion, putting it in the top ten catastrophes by property losses in U.S. history.
The devastation comes as California grapples with a home insurance crisis. Carriers have been fleeing the state in recent years due to increasing costs associated with climate risks. Those who have stayed have pushed up premiums, leaving many homeowners underinsured or without coverage at all.
Parker, luckily, has private homeowner's insurance, and he was able to file a claim in the middle of Wednesday night detailing the loss. An AllState agent called him Thursday morning to get the recovery process going and start moving forward.
Parker is almost certain that the total loss of his family's belongings and home will exceed their coverage limit. Though he is thankful that an agent reached out to him so quickly, he knows there will be months if not years of work ahead.
"Thank god we have relatively normal coverage," he said. "Hopefully a year from now, I can say, yeah, it was horrible and painful, but the insurance companies paid what the policies said they were going to pay."
For now, his focus is on finding housing for his family and working out how his daughter will finish out the school year.
"You want to rebuild, you want to figure it all out, but, at least all the reports we've seen, the town is gone," he says. "It's going to be years before things are even livable."
'It was chaos'
When Olga Sajkowski, 43, and her husband moved into their dream home in Malibu in 2018, they envisioned staying on the lot, located just on the edge of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood with beautiful views and in close proximity to good schools, "forever."
But that dream turned into a nightmare this week, as the wildfire ripped through the area. After a harrowing morning collecting her 6-year-old daughter from school and trying to save precious items from their home before it burned, Sajkowski and her family headed to Santa Monica to stay with friends at a hotel. Wednesday, the hotel was evacuated, and the family headed to a friend's house outside of the evacuation area. Their home, and the rest of their neighborhood, burned down sometime Tuesday.
"It was chaos," Sajkowski says of her experiences on Tuesday. "I've lived in Malibu for about 10 years now, so I'm used to fires, but this one just felt very different."
At some point amid the chaos, Sajkowski tried contacting the California FAIR Plan, a program of last resort through which she has fire insurance. The website was down when she tried to access it Wednesday, and after two and a half hours on hold, her call was ended. Sajkowski then contacted her insurance agent, who advised her to call right when the offices opened Thursday. She did so, and was able to get through.
"I literally was like buying Taylor Swift tickets," she says. "It was a countdown. The clock turned eight so I could call."
The California FAIR Plan was created to help residents who lost or were priced out of coverage as private carriers left the state or jacked up premiums. Sajkowski herself sought it out a year ago after she was dropped by her private insurer, USAA. Her insurance agent was able to "cobble together" a dwelling insurance package that did not cover fire; she got the supplementary fire insurance through the FAIR Plan.
There was much worry, even before the fires of this week, that FAIR would not be able to keep up with demand, and would face insolvency. It has $5.9 billion worth of exposure in the Pacific Palisades alone, due in part to the high property values. Since September 2020, dwelling policies have increased by 123%.
"Do I have confidence in California FAIR Plan solvency? No, but it's all we have right now," she says, noting she is hopeful there will also be governmental relief from FEMA. "Our livelihood, our net worth, is wrapped up in that house."
But it's not just the loss of their house that Sajkowski is lamenting. Their community and life as they knew it is also gone. Whatever happens with insurance, though, Sajkowski says Malibu will always be home.
"Right now, at this juncture, I feel like we'll rebuild," she says. " What that will look like, I don't know. And how long that will take, I don't know. But I'm not ready to give up."
