Facilitating Recovery
Hillsboro, OR • Regional-based partnerships were critical during the 2020 wildfires. Pictured: Hillsboro Fire Department worked closely with other fire districts/departments on fires in Washington County.
Last fall, Oregon experienced unprecedented wildfires.
Detroit, Gates, Idanha, Lyons, Molalla, Phoenix, Talent, and Mill City were among the cities impacted. CIS stood with our members and covered millions of dollars of damage. While CIS claim payments were significant, they paled in comparison to the loss of homes and businesses in these communities. Surprisingly, most CIS covered structures were spared. Talent’s Public Works Team Makes a Big Difference
News showed the devastation to cities like Talent. Reports stated Talent lost 40 percent of its land and 1,000 structures, displacing a quarter of the town.
One harrowing story that was not told was how Talent’s Public Works Director Bret Marshall and his dedicated Public Works crew was able to save their Public Works building — while fire scorched everything around them.
“The amount of work that was done to save this facility would never have been possible by a single individual,” said Bret. “My staff and I were doing multiple tasks all at once.” At one point, Bret and his team had three pieces of equipment with water tanks going around to wet down the surrounding area — as well as their Public Works building. Throughout the night, there were several points where they were directly fighting the fire.
“The fire had crossed inside our fence line,” he said. “We used water as well as stockpiled rock, sand, and topsoil to dump directly on the flames using a backhoe.”
Phoenix Fire • Video of one building lost during the Phoenix wildfire was this modular building that housed the local firefighters.
The Public Works crew moved vital equipment to the City Hall facility and essential vehicles to the center of the City’s asphalted parking area to avoid the fire and direct flames.
Bret and his crew continued to protect the building until the fire had burned its way around the facility. When the fire was out, the Public Works building still stood along with their expensive equipment and vehicles.
The efforts of Bret and his team were truly heroic.
Not all cities were able to withstand the devastating wildfires and some lost city-owned structures.
CIS stands with Detroit as they work diligently to continue serving their community and restoring water service to residents.
Detroit Begins to Rebuild
According to media reports, the City of Detroit lost 70% of its buildings and businesses due to the wildfires of 2020.
Lionshead Fire • Flight of North Flank
Detroit also lost both their City Hall and their water treatment facility, which was taken out from the river all the way to their storage tanks. CIS paid to bring in a water truck and generator at the very beginning of the crisis.
“We will be paying for their water reservoir and control building,” according to CIS Senior Property Claims Consultant Carol Drouet. “We also paid to provide temporary office space because they were in such dire need after their City Hall was destroyed.”
“We’re blessed to have Carol on staff,” said CIS Executive Director Patrick Priest. “She has years of experience with catastrophe property claims handling, including 2018’s Paradise Fire in California. She’s been identifying the best independent adjusters and construction consultants to help our members.”
Resources Created for Wildfire Response After the fires exploded in September, we created a Wildfire Response Resources page. The first section explained property coverage and provided quick links for filing claims. Our property coverage provided for Extra Expense Coverage (expense to continue operations-over and above normal) and Rental Expense Coverage of $1 million per occurrence. We ended up making advance payments to our members as well as directly to vendors (for costs to continue operations).
The Wildfire Response Resources page also included timely information on FEMA grants, managing spontaneous volunteers in times of disaster, risk communication guidelines, and more. It also offered resources specific to CIS members.
Detroit, OR • Detroit lost their water treatment facility, from the river all the way to their storage tanks. Work is underway to get water restored.
2020 was a tough year, but we will continue to be there for members no matter what the tragedy — because that’s what families do.
All members with CIS property coverage have access to Agility's recovery solutions of power, technology, space, and connectivity available to them.
CIS Benefits members with medical coverage have access to Cascade Centers counseling and resources to cope with traumatic events through the value-added employee assistance program (EAP).
While the 2020 wildfires were devastating, CIS has been proud to support our members. Yes, 2020 was a tough year, but we will continue to be there for members no matter what the tragedy — because that’s what families do.