Farmers Insurance Partners With San Miguel Fire Protection District To Assist Residents With Disaster Preparedness

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Farmers Insurance Group has once again partnered with members of the fire service to help communities prepare for natural disasters. In 2008, Farmers joined forces with the San Miguel Fire Protection District in San Diego, California to distribute "Before the Threat" disaster preparedness packages to 10,500 homeowners in an area that is at high risk for wildfires.

The package includes a "Before the Threat" DVD that gives homeowners information on how they should prepare for natural disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes, storms or terrorist attacks. The DVD stresses the importance of having critical information and paperwork readily available in a central location so that in the event of an emergency, residents will be able to easily take this with them. Suggested items include medication, doctors' phone numbers, insurance papers, trust deeds, passports and identification.

Also included in the kit is a home inventory software program entitled, "Know Your Stuff", which enables homeowners to catalog all of their belongings and attach photographs. This software can help both in purchasing insurance and in filing claims in the event of a loss. Charles Dabelgott, the Farmers Insurance California Southern State Executive Director says of the software, "We actually request that people would put those in safety deposit boxes or keep them offsite, or at least keep them in a location so that when a fire does happen their important paperwork and the inventory of their home can be easily grabbed in a box and be put in their car."

The 2008 distribution campaign was focused on the area in San Diego County served by the San Miguel Fire Protection District which is at high risk for wildfires. In 2003 the Cedar Fire destroyed thousands of homes and properties in Eastern San Diego County, and in 2007 the Harris and Witch Wildfires also did extensive damage in the area. Teams of Farmers Insurance Agents, San Miguel firefighters and Explorers, and community volunteers distributed the packages within two days to all residents of the area, whether they were Farmers Insurance customers or not. According to San Miguel Fire Chief Augie Ghio, Farmers Insurance paid for the entire project at a cost of $25,000.00. Of the partnership Ghio says, "Farmers did everything. We just provided the spirit, the enthusiasm and some of the people to get it done."

Building on the success of the campaign, Farmers Insurance has teamed with the San Diego Office of Emergency Services to distribute the preparedness package to 400,000 homes throughout San Diego County in 2009. Chief Ghio feels that although the initial distributions are to areas that are at risk for wildfires, the kit would also be helpful to homeowners throughout the United States, saying, "This year's focus was mostly on wildfires, urban interface preparedness and readiness with those target audiences. But really this needs to go more to [communities with] all hazards and all risks: fire, flood, earthquake, terrorism. It can apply to all those venues and more, man-made or natural disasters."

For more information on how Farmers Insurance Group has assisted those affected by fire and the company's disaster preparedness partnerships with the fire service, please watch the videos below.

Farmers Insurance Group Assists Displaced Victims of the California Wildfires

"Together is Better": Farmers Insurance Group and the California Fire Safe Council Partner to Save Lives and Property