Firefighters expect difficult and treacherous day as red flag warning forecasts winds of up to 75mph. This blog is now closedPrivate firefighting crews prompt furious public debateTell us about financial consequences you are facingCalifornia homeowners and business owners who lost everything in the devastating Los Angeles-area fires now have to tackle their insurance companies to recover the value of their homeowners’ policies – if they are lucky enough to have insurance at all.With estimates of the economic damage from the fires now reaching over $200bn, we’d like to hear what financial consequences people face due to the fires.In the rural enclaves tucked close to the canyons most prime to burn, scores of animals – horses, goats, pigs, chickens, and even emus among them – were in danger as the fast-moving fires swept closer. Some had been left behind during chaotic evacuations. Others required large trailers or a gentle hand to calmly coax them through the terror caused by howling winds, ashen air and the very strangers desperately trying to get them to safety. A network of volunteers was preparing to descend on the fire zones, ready to risk it all to save pets and livestock in need.These strangers had quickly stepped up to answer calls for help. Mobilizing through social media pages or elaborate phone trees, they worked through the nights, driving into burning hillsides and through scorched wreckage. For some, it’s not the first time they’ve gone willingly into the fray. Continue reading...