Where does home insurance stand in Wrightwood, Phelan and Pinon Hills?

The California FAIR Plan held 3,750 residential policies in Wrightwood (92397), Phelan (92371) and Pinon Hills (92372) on September 30, 2026, by its own ZIP code count.

Wrightwood, Phelan and Pinon Hills held 1,638 FAIR Plan policies on September 30, 2022, and 3,438 on September 30, 2025.

The Plan sorts its policies into its own Low, Medium and High wildfire tiers. On September 30, 2026, 62% of its policies in Wrightwood, Phelan and Pinon Hills sat in the High tier, against 37% statewide. The tiers are the Plan's own ratings, not the state's fire hazard map.

On September 30, 2026, Wrightwood, Phelan and Pinon Hills all carried a flag the FAIR Plan carries for areas its file marks as distressed. That day the flag covered 576 of the 1,662 California ZIP codes in the Plan's file.

In 2022, 16.4 percent of insured homes in Wrightwood, Phelan and Pinon Hills were on the FAIR Plan, against 3.2 percent statewide, in the Department of Insurance's count. The count covers houses of up to four units and mobile homes, not renters or condo owners.

The Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey puts 6.6% of Wrightwood, Phelan and Pinon Hills housing units in seasonal, recreational or occasional use, against 2.4% statewide. A Wrightwood cabin used part of the year can go through Casa's questionnaire too, which asks a few added questions about when it sits empty.

The three communities are not one landscape. The county's Countywide Plan calls Wrightwood "a four-season community located in the San Gabriel Mountains." It files Phelan and Pinon Hills among its North Desert communities.

Wrightwood started with the most homes on the FAIR Plan. In 2022, 39.6% of insured homes in Wrightwood's ZIP code were on the Plan, against 7.1% in Phelan's and 6.8% in Pinon Hills'.

Since then, the desert side has grown much faster. From September 30, 2022, to September 30, 2026, Phelan's count rose 318% and Pinon Hills' rose 269%. Wrightwood's rose 53%, from a much larger start, and nearly all of its policies sit in the Plan's High wildfire tier.

Non-renewals ran above the state's 8.7% in all three. In 2023, 20.5% of home policies outside the FAIR Plan in Pinon Hills' ZIP code were non-renewed, 19.8% in Phelan's and 17.7% in Wrightwood's. Those totals include policies the owners ended, such as when they sold the house or switched insurers.

For Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear and Crestline, read the San Bernardino Mountains guide.

The Blue Cut Fire started on August 16, 2016, off Interstate 15 and Highway 138, north of San Bernardino. It burned 36,274 acres, and CAL FIRE's incident page, last updated August 23, 2016, says it destroyed 105 single-family homes.

ABC7 reported on August 18, 2016, that all of Wrightwood was under a mandatory evacuation order, and Phelan was under one too.

The Bridge Fire started on September 8, 2024, in the Angeles National Forest. It burned 56,030 acres in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, and CAL FIRE's page, last updated June 3, 2025, counts 81 structures destroyed and 17 damaged.

On September 11, 2024, the Governor proclaimed an emergency over the fire. The Department of Insurance then listed all three ZIP codes in Bulletin 2024-9. For one year from that date, a home policy there could not be cancelled or non-renewed over wildfire risk.

That year has ended, so wildfire risk can again be a reason for a non-renewal here. Read how a wildfire moratorium starts and ends if another fire comes close.

Yes, for short stays. San Bernardino County requires a permit for "the advertising and the rental use" of a short-term rental "in unincorporated desert and mountain regions of San Bernardino County."

All three are unincorporated communities in the county's mountain and desert regions, so the permit rule covers them.

A short-term rental, in the county's words, generally means a stay of "30 consecutive calendar days or less." The permit is valid for one year and has to be renewed every year.

The permit and your insurance are separate questions. Before the first booking, ask your insurer to confirm in writing how your policy treats short-stay guests, and read how a homeowners policy treats short stays.

Start by looking up your home's fire hazard zone. The state set the zones for State Responsibility Areas first, in 2024, San Bernardino County's fire district says. The Board of Supervisors then adopted the district's zones for Local Responsibility Areas on June 10, 2025, in Ordinance No. 4489.

The state's 2026 Fire Risk Reduction Community List includes the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District, though not the county government. The list, kept by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, recognizes agencies with strong local fire planning, and this edition runs to July 1, 2028.

A non-renewal notice must be mailed or handed to you at least 75 days (90 days beginning January 1, 2028) before your policy ends, under California law. Those days are your window to ask standard insurers, then specialty insurers, for a policy.

If your home is on the FAIR Plan now, compare what the alternatives cover. One full policy in place of the FAIR Plan can cover what a fire policy leaves out, such as theft and a burst pipe.

Have these ready for every quote:

• The age and material of your roof, with a permit or receipt if you kept one.
• Dated photos of the cleared ground and trimmed trees around the house.
• The years the plumbing, wiring, electrical panel and heating were last replaced.
• Any fire district inspection report or notice about brush on your lot.