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Private firefighters provided by American International Group (AIG) safeguard the mansions of 42% of Forbes’ list of the 400 richest Americans.
Average Americans ended up burning to death in the California wildfires while private firefighters protected the empty mansions of the rich.
For example, private firefighters [1] saved Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s $60 million mansion in Hidden Hills, California last week. Notably, Kim and Kanye were not even home when private firefighters saved their mansion. The couple is safe in another luxury residence, Motherboard reports.
The firefighters work for Kardashian’s insurance company. NBC states that private firefighters are a fringe benefit in many rich homeowners’ insurance policies.
Private Firefighters Will Protect Mansions For A Hefty Price
In fact, private firefighters [2] provided by American International Group (AIG) safeguard the mansions of 42% of Forbes’ list of the 400 richest Americans.
AIG’s Private Clients Group offers firefighters’ services to policyholders, Stephen Poux tells NBC. However, AIG clients have to pay “several thousand dollars to several tens-of-thousands” of dollars in extra premiums to get the service. Particularly, Poux is the head of risk management at AIG’s Private Clients Group.
As a matter of fact, AIG [3] is the insurance company the federal government bailed out for $182 billion in 2009. Furthermore, AIG nearly collapsed during the financial crisis of 2008 because of questionable loans made by its management.
Insurance Companies Hire Private Firefighters To Protect Mansions
AIG is one of several insurers that offer firefighters to wealthy policyholders, NBC reveals.
For instance, Chubb Limited operates its own unit of private firefighters called Wildfire Defense Services (WDS). The WDS will protect your house if you insure it for more than $1 million.
Specifically, a WDS crew saved Fred Giuffrida’s 16-acre ranch in Sonoma, California, during a fire last October. Amazingly, state firefighters did not realize that WDS was on the job. Instead, Cal Fire only learned about WDS’s presence from a phone call, NBC claims.
Under these circumstances, government firefighters could end up risking their lives to save private firefighters. If private firefighters get trapped by a blaze, first responders or the military will have to rescue them.
Fire’s Death Toll Unknown Despite Private Firefighters
Meanwhile, authorities are still searching for victims of Northern California’s Camp Fire [4]. The Camp Fire destroyed over 10,500 homes and killed at least 77 people in Butte County, California. Also, the overall area that the fire has affected is about the size of the city of Chicago.
Most of the Camp Fire’s victims were working-class and elderly people unable to evacuate. The Associated Press reports that the Camp Fire death [5] toll will grow because crews are still searching for bodies.
Moreover, a list of missing people in Butte County includes approximately 1,300 names. Notwithstanding, authorities cannot yet tell if those people are dead or still missing, Sheriff Kory Honea admits.
Private Firefighters Prove That The Government Cannot Protect You
The existence of private firefighters proves that most Americans cannot rely on the government in disasters.
Rich people and insurance companies hire private firefighters because they know the government will not protect their property and lives. In addition, the government is probably not even competent enough to do so. The majority of Americans need to learn the same lesson if they want to survive.
You may also enjoy reading an additional Off The Grid News article: Crucial Tips For Surviving A Forest Fire [6]
What do you think about the use of private firefighters to protect a home? Let us know in the comments below.