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Philanthropy Rebuild Paradise Foundation
Brian Gobba, left, stands with his wife Morgan and their son in front of the family's new home in Paradise, Calif., Friday, June 14, 2024. The Gobbas found out they were being dropped by their insurance company just before they finished building their home on the east side of Paradise last year. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

Rebuilding Paradise: Nonprofit's $500 'defensible space' grants help cut residents' insurance costs

Five years after the 2018 Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed 90% of the homes here, residents of Paradise, California, face a new struggle: Finding homeowner's insurance

By Gabriela Aoun Angueira
Published - Jun 24, 2024, 08:03 AM ET
Last Updated - Jun 24, 2024, 08:03 AM EDT

PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — The letter from the insurance company arrived just before Brian and Morgan Gobba finally finished construction on their new house: Their homeowner’s policy was being canceled.

The Gobbas were among the first families to return to Paradise after the 2018 Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed 90% of the homes here. The house where Morgan grew up burned in the fire. The couple wanted to be part of restoring the town, but the process has been exhausting and expensive.

“A lot of people don’t realize that when you rebuild in a burnt-out town, you’re not starting at ground zero,” said Gobba, who worked as a construction estimator and is now a fire prevention inspector for the town of Paradise. “You’re starting at negative five or 10, because you need to cut down the trees and get rid of a lot of things that are destroyed or toxic.”

Facing the prospect of not having protection for the home they’d worked so hard to build, the Gobbas enrolled in the California FAIR plan last year, the state’s insurer of last resort. Their annual premium is now $6,000.

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