Does homeowners insurance cover fire protection to a sufficient degree? This is a question that every homeowner needs to ask because it’s often the case that policies are inadequate for the value of the home and possessions they cover. For those who dwell near the Florida Everglades, the risk of fire damage is especially high during the dry season, and while wildfires are only a single cause of house fires, last year’s wildfires in California could foreshadow a similar event here in Florida, according to fire experts. The Example of California Damage claims from the wildfires that swept through wine country in California last October reached upwards of $9 billion, the highest in the state’s history. The dry climate—30 inches of rainfall, annually—and mountainous terrain in California made containing the blaze difficult. Florida, which receives 50 to 60 inches of rainfall per year, is less at risk for catastrophic fires, though the dry winter this year increases that risk substantially. “Florida has a Mediterranean climate much like California and probably is the most fire-prone state in the Eastern U.S.,” Jim Karels, Director of the Florida Fire Service, recently told the Orlando Sentinel. “We are going to be looking at a …
