What happened to home insurance in Three Rivers after the 2021 fires?

Mostly in the year to September 30, 2023. In that year, the FAIR Plan's count in Three Rivers' 93271 went from 252 to 483 policies, its five-year file shows.

That jump came just after the one-year moratorium on wildfire non-renewals ended in October 2022, as the next chapter explains. By September 30, 2026, 93271 held 622 FAIR Plan policies.

The FAIR Plan held 1,839 residential policies on September 30, 2026, across six Tulare County ZIP codes in the foothills and mountains around Three Rivers. They run from Lemon Cove and Three Rivers to Springville, Camp Nelson, Posey and California Hot Springs.

That is 67% more than the 1,099 the Plan counted in the same Three Rivers area ZIP codes on September 30, 2022.

Most of the Three Rivers area's FAIR Plan policies sit in its top wildfire tier: 85% were in the High tier on September 30, 2026. On September 30, 2026, four of the six Three Rivers area ZIP codes had a flag the FAIR Plan carries on distressed areas. Camp Nelson and Lemon Cove had the flag on March 31, 2026, and no longer did by September 30.

The FAIR Plan insured 26.1% of the Three Rivers area's insured homes in 2022, the California Department of Insurance reports. Across the state, the share was 3.2%.

By the Department's 2023 count, other insurers renewed 2,273 home policies in the Three Rivers area's six ZIP codes and wrote 145 new ones. That year, 592 of their Three Rivers area policies were non-renewed, 19.7% against 8.7% statewide, in a count that also takes in owners who sold or switched.

Three Rivers itself had the highest share of the six. In 2023, 282 policies in 93271 were non-renewed on that same count, or 31.0%, with Posey close behind.

The Windy Fire started on September 9, 2021, two miles south of Camp Nelson, on the Tule River Indian Reservation. Lightning started it, and it burned 97,528 acres, according to its federal incident page.

The KNP Complex began as two lightning fires, the Colony and Paradise fires, found on September 10, 2021. They merged and burned 88,307 acres, mostly in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, above Three Rivers.

CAL FIRE's pages for both fires, last updated November 12, 2021, and January 5, 2022, confirm the start dates and the lightning cause. Neither page gives a count of homes lost.

On October 22, 2021, the Governor's emergency declaration took in Tulare and five other counties. The Department of Insurance's Bulletin 2021-9 then gave the listed ZIP codes a year without wildfire non-renewals or cancellations, starting that day.

Every ZIP code on this page made those lists. The Windy Fire's list named five of the six, and the KNP Complex's named four, with three on both. The year before, Bulletin 2020-11 had listed five of them, all but California Hot Springs, under the SQF Complex for one year from August 18, 2020.

That protection ended in October 2022. Bulletin 2024-6 listed Posey's 93260 once more, under the Borel Fire in Kern County, for one year from July 30, 2024, and that bar has ended too. As of October 29, 2026, the Department's moratorium list showed no active moratorium for these six ZIP codes. After any new fire, look up your ZIP code again.

Many houses in these hills sit empty part of the year. Census Bureau figures for 2020 to 2024 count about 38% of the Three Rivers area's housing units as seasonal or second homes, against 2.4% across California.

That survey figure could be off by about 6 points either way. The share runs far higher in the mountain ZIP codes around Camp Nelson, Posey and California Hot Springs than in Three Rivers itself.

A cabin that sits empty for months raises its own questions. Read your policy's vacancy terms before winter, and see how long a house can sit empty before coverage changes.

If you rent the house to park visitors, have your insurer state in writing whether paying guests are covered. Short stays and a homeowners policy explains the usual gaps.

Casa's questionnaire asks how a home is used, with "Second or seasonal home" among the answers. A cabin takes the same questionnaire, which adds questions about its use, such as the months it sits empty.

Check the dates first. California law requires the notice to be mailed or delivered at least 75 days (90 days beginning January 1, 2028) before the policy ends, with the specific reason. The 2028 change explains the longer notice.

For a cabin that sits empty through a mountain winter, the FAIR Plan's gaps are the costly ones. It is written for fire and smoke, with wind and hail as optional add-ons. Water from a frozen pipe, a break-in and a guest's injury all fall outside it.

Use those weeks to search before you accept the FAIR Plan: look for one policy that covers all of it, standard insurers first, then specialty insurers. If your home is already on the FAIR Plan, run the same search at each renewal.

A FAIR Plan policy can be cancelled in writing at any time, and the unused part of the year's price comes back to you. That makes a switch in the middle of the policy year simple once a new policy starts.

Have these ready when you ask for quotes:

• Your notice, with its mailing date and the reason it gives.
• The roof's age and material, and any permit or receipt for it.
• Photos of the ground cleared around the house and outbuildings, each with its date.
• For a cabin, the months it sits empty and who checks on it.
• Claims you have made on the home in the past five years.