When the Woolsey fire swept into the exclusive neighborhood of Bell Canyon, resident Yen Hsieh grabbed her late music teacher’s 200-year-old cello, some belongings and her son’s betta fish Sparky and fled, not sure whether her home would be destroyed.
More than 30 homes in the gated Ventura County community were lost, but Hsieh’s survived. Bell Canyon was protected by both county firefighters and a private crew covered by her homeowner’s insurance policy.
Hsieh said it’s not clear which of the firefighters — private or publicly funded — were responsible for saving her home, but she’s grateful.
“I just want to hug every one of them,” she said.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.
Kim Kardashian hired private fire crews to save her home. But more than just the ultra-rich take advantage of this service. https://t.co/okNwoXbd2G
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) November 27, 2018
California's privileged are hiring private fire crews to save their homes. Regular firefighters aren't happy about it https://t.co/QWU0x3qhAa @hannahnfry @jflem94
— Joe Serna, LAT (@JosephSerna) November 27, 2018
@jflem94 and I spent some time digging into the private firefighting industry. Here's what we found out https://t.co/GzRA2AMnA3
— Hannah Fry (@Hannahnfry) November 27, 2018