Is has been confirmed that over 150 structures and homes have been destroyed by a fire which originated in the vicinity of Four Mile Canyon, located miles from Boulder, Colorado. The origin of the fire is unknown at this time and is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Land Management. Generally, when a fire breaches 500 acres and is not well contained, it becomes a Federal investigation matter. The total value of the structures is unknown at this time, but it expected to exceed ten million dollars ($10M-USD).
Peak Claims, Inc. which is based out of Denver, Colorado has previous experience with wild fire liability claims and direct loss independent adjusting of strutures damaged by fire. Manager Phillip Crimaldi reports that “most wild fires in the Colorado area are caused by humans, or a failure to maintain a duty of care on equipment or other things which produce excessive amounts of heat, but not in every case. In some cases wild or forest fires are caused by natural conditions including excessive heat and drought.” Mr. Crimaldi also indicated that “Unfortunately, even when a fire is directly caused by a person’s failure to maintain a duty of care and no direct proof is available of that breach, such as failing to extinguish a cigarette, the blame is often pointed in a direction that has a viable recovery path where liability coverage exists”.
At last count, the fire was approximately 30% contained but weather continues to change and subject both the fire and fire containment crews to dangerous conditions with no solid hope for recovery. NPR reported this morning that over 3,500 residents have been evacuated for days. Conditions do not warrant the return of any residents in the near future as heavy wind gusts, likely due to hurricane season, are likely to fuel the fire and dry out any existing moisture.
Mr. Crimaldi gave a clear point of view on his last wild-fire liability claim experience where, at Canon City, CO in June, 2010, dozens of tents were set up around a high school which was used as the fire incident management center. Personnel from multiple Colorado and out of state fire agencies were present, along with the BLM, U.S Department of Forestry, Sheriff’s Department and other staff to help support the fire fighting efforts.
Peak Claims, Inc. is a Colorado based insurance and legal claim services company providing adjusting, investigation, subrogation recovery efforts, witness location and other related services for insurance carriers, law firms and self insureds. The company operates in Denver, Boulder and throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California and other states. Phillip Crimaldi has a broad experience with fire claims and manages the Colorado offices and operation in other states.
Explosion, then a fuel fire…
Appurtenant Structure - Garage Fuel Fire Damage
Continuing with our tradition of receiving assignments that made the morning news, we received this interesting file which was reported by the several news stations before it was ever reported to the insurer.
The insured had a vintage 1986 Maserati Bi-Turbo, a Smart Car, and two late model Honda Goldwing Trike Motorcycles, among other collectible items stored in her garage. As a preventative maintenance technique the owner stated that she normally starts the care and lets it idle for several minutes on a bi-weekly basis to help keep the engine lubricated and in working order. On the eve of this particular accident she went out and started the motor up, then went back inside with her grandchild. Shortly after a large explosion occured that “shook the house” and the insured came out to find her garage going up in flames.
Mrs. Insured was keen to safety and took her grandchild across the street to a neighbor’s house where she then called 911. The Denver Fire Department‘s Station 16 crew arrived 7 minutes and 15 seconds later according to their report. Unfortunately that’s a long time for a garage full of automobiles to be on fire. The fire had burned so hot that it melted the rear of the house, which was less than 30 feet away. The garage was badly damaged, but surprisingly, not a total loss because a large part was constructed from masonry brick and block which were fairly heat resistant, as opposed to a wooden frame which is not.
In our scene investigation, it appeared that the fire originated at or near the Maserati and there was a hole approximately 2.5 feet in diameter on the roof of the garage, as shown:
- Explosion on Garage Roof
In this case it was only necessary to substantiate the items and costs included in our estimate of recorded damages because the carrier hired a special cause and origin specialist. The auto was insured through a different insurance carrier than the structural coverage, therefore a good investigator may find evidence proving the Masterati was the cause which would then open up recovery through subrogation.
- Interior Garage Damages and Explosion Opening
The garage roof, windows, doors, electric and HVAC were clearly a total loss as shown in our photos. Interestingly the policy coverage for this file was exceedingly shy of the amount necessary to repair the entire structure. One cause for having made so many news headlines was that a fireman was struck my a bullet as heat set off ammunition that was stored in the garage. No injuries were report as there was no significant velocity behind the round.
This type of claim would normally be a good candidate for an errors and omissions suit naming the insurance agent who sold the policy because the agent failed to update or review policy limits for several years. It’s unfortunate that Underwriting had failed to recognize this condition. However, in this case the agent happened to be directly related to the insured and she was not interested in pursuing such a claim against her sibling/agent.
Roof Joist at Entry - Fuel Fire Damage Adjusting
With all of the news crews documenting the story, we were shocked that a public adjuster hadn’t been involved in the file before our arrival. Our file was turned around in less than 72 hours and the insured received policy limits of $26,000.00 for Appurtenant Structure Coverage (B) the same week as we received the file.
Phillip Crimaldi handles fire and explosion damage insurance claim adjustments and repair estimates for Peak Claims throughout the nation.
This claim was featured on: Denver Post, KJCT News 8 (ABC – Grand Junction, CO) through the Associated Press wire, along with local Denver Fox affiliate KDVR, and local NBC affiliate KUSA 9News.
Recently, there have been millions of recalls at General Motors and Toyota involving millions of automobiles. If you’re an insurance claim professional there should be a list of questions running through your mind about what this means should you end up handling a claim involving one of these vehicles. This article reviews basic information on how to handle conditions from a first-party loss documentation perspective. The vehicles affected are:
- 2010 Toyota Prius – Brakes
- 2007-2010 Pontiac G5 – Steering
- 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt – Steering
- 2005-2006 Pontiac Pursuit (Canada) – Steering
- 2005-2006 Pontiac G4 (Mexico) – Steering
If you are assigned or end up with an auto liability file that involves one of these vehicle there are a few factors involved you might want to consider before proceeding. First, make sure you have taken the time to protect your liability after acceptance of the file.
The most important factor to remember when dealing with an auto recall, or any claim, is to remain impartial. Prevent you or your adjusting staff from jumping to conclusions about a brake, steering or other mechanical failure by emphasizing the amount of money or damages are not an issue – only the preservation of fact is important. Insurance liability claims involving auto recalls should be regarded as a very thin sheet of ice because often times claim professionals jump to conclusions about a particular part failing and contributing that as the primary cause of the accident. Part failure from auto-recall be the primary origin but that is not always the case. Even if it was the contributing factor, it’s important to documents other circumstances you would normally document in an auto collision such as road conditions, weather conditions and other physically identifiably characteristics surrounding the loss such as tire tread depth.
The truth is that many loss investigators don’t know what their client does behind closed doors. Insurers are becoming keen to indemnifying their insured then going back to recover their loss silently. This means that they are relying on all of the little elements you may have come across at an accident scene involving one of these automobiles.
From an insurer’s standpoint, these manufacturers are already eating dirt with the massive expense of a recall. A self-insured entity such as an auto manufacturer is going to spend some serious dollars denying claims because each claim is evidence against them in a class action – the last thing they want and the first thing every hot dog attorney in America has their mind on. Protect your liability by documenting all of the facts in an auto recall case, not just the ones that seem obvious or evident.
Another viewpoint are the claims that may spawn as a result of a failed part. For example, a recalled vehicle driven by Mary is traveling on a highway at or near the speed limit and loses control because the expected resistance in a power steering mechanism became greater in the midst of a lane change, according to that driver. A nearby driver, Joe, anticipates the recalled vehicle traveling into his lane and makes a fair judgment to move out of the way, thereby causing another accident. A witness, Kim, has an account of the entire event. It’s true that the Joe caused the accident but his insurer has a right to attempt recovery of their loss (subrogate) because the Mary essentially created a tort in negligence when failing to control her vehicle. The recovery odds are slim given these circumstances but they are possible – particularly if the drivers were carrying super-loads of cargo and caused damages exceeding $100,000.00. Since there was no collision between the Mary and Joe, however, Joe’s insurance would likely subrogate the manufacturer directly – providing all the details were in place.
You can help your client by providing these important details that are relevant to both the accident and the recall – not just some of them. The sum of dealing with auto-recalls is that the evidence often require a specialized and elevated level of care that most adjusting firms overlook. Don’t let you or your subrogation department be stuck in the office late because your independent adjuster failed to give you all of the details. Peak Claims thrives on reporting pertinent details that our competition fails to document – help your subrogation or legal team of attorneys achieve their maximum potential by contacting Peak for your investigative needs today.
