‘I’ll pay whatever it costs’: Idyllwild homeowners squeezed by soaring fire insurance as thousands arrive for July 4th
Garrett Hottle
IDYLLWILD, Calif. (KESQ) As thousands of visitors head up the hill for Idyllwild’s Fourth of July parade this weekend, the people who live in the mountain town are paying more than ever to protect their homes from wildfire and many say they’re insuring for less than their homes are worth just to afford it.
Most homeowners News Channel 3 spoke with are on the California FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort. The plan covered 655,204 properties statewide as of March 31, 2026, according to FAIR Plan data nearly triple the number from 2021.
Tamara McFarlane is the manager at the local hotspot Red Kettle, and owns a property with three buildings in Strawberry Valley. She pays $1,700 a year for $350,000 in FAIR Plan coverage far less than she says her property is worth.
“I’d probably be able to rebuild maybe a one-bedroom house if I’m lucky,” McFarlane said.
She said she chose the lower coverage deliberately. “I didn’t want to spend $2,000 a month to have insurance,” she said.
Dora Dillman, a realtor in Idyllwild for roughly 30 years, said the common belief that the town is uninsurable is false, but acknowledged costs have climbed sharply.
“I hear people say, ‘Oh, it’s impossible to get insurance up here,’ and I want to just – excuse me, that’s not true. We can get insurance,” Dillman said. She estimated premiums have “easily doubled” over the past decade. “But I wouldn’t trade it. I’ll pay whatever insurance it costs.”
Dillman said the bigger danger is homeowners who don’t understand what their policies cover, pointing to friends who lost homes in the 2018 Cranston Fire and discovered the gap between insured value and the actual cost to rebuild. She said rebuilding on the mountain can run $450 per square foot or more while some homeowners carry policies written at $250.
The FAIR Plan is a named-peril policy centered on fire coverage. It does not include protections standard in a typical homeowners policy, such as theft, water damage or liability homeowners who want that protection must buy a second “wrap” policy, adding to the cost.
Donnie Browne, an insurance agent who writes policies in the area, told News Channel 3 that Idyllwild carries the highest wildfire risk scoring used by many insurers, and that carriers have pulled back from high-risk areas across Southern California including, in some cases, parts of Palm Springs. He said homeowners frustrated by rising bills should shop their policies but never let coverage lapse in protest, because carriers are unlikely to reinstate the old rate.
Susan Cowper, a longtime Idyllwild homeowner on the FAIR Plan, said her former carrier stopped writing policies in the mountain communities. She credits the local fire department with keeping past fires out of the village but said she’s made peace with the risk.
“Life is more important than possessions,” Cowper said.
News Channel 3 reached out to Assemblymember Greg Wallis whose district covers the hill and who is Vice Chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee, who provided us with the following statement.
“I hear the frustration of Idyllwild families every day, and they deserve a serious response. As Vice Chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee, I have spent the past year pushing the Sustainable Insurance Strategy and smarter policy to rebuild a private insurance market that can actually work in California. For too long, well intended but unwise regulations have driven carriers out of high risk areas. The FAIR Plan was designed as a last resort, not a primary option, and too many homeowners now have nowhere else to turn. That is not acceptable. Our goal is simple: bring carriers back so families in Idyllwild and across the state can get real, affordable coverage. I will not stop working until Californians have the protection they deserve.”
Assemblymember Greg Wallis -(R) California 47th District
On Saturday morning at 10am the 60th 4th of July Parade in Idyllwild will kick off. For more information on parade details and local events happening this weekend visit this link.
Riverside County court records