Concierge-Level Fire Protection

In an article headlined, "Another way the rich are different," the LA Times reports that American International Group offers "concierge-level" fire insurance to homeowners in Southern California's richest neighborhoods. About 2000 clients pay more than $10,000 a year to insure their multi-million dollar homes built in fire-prone coastal sage scrub and grasslands. If a fire threatens one of the properties they insure, AIG sends private firefighters employed by Firebreak Spray Systems to the scene, where they spray the home and grounds with Phos-Check fire retardant. Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, told the Times, "What we have is a dangerous confluence of events: underfunded states, increasingly inefficient disaster response, a loss of faith in the public sphere ... and a growing part of the economy that sees disaster as a promising new market."

Another way the rich are different: 'concierge-level' fire protection