Thursday, December 11, 2025

Guest Opinion: Kiley Grombacher | The Hidden Toll of Wildfire Smoke: It’s Time Insurers and Lawmakers Treat Smoke Damage as Deadly

By Kiley Grombacher, co-founder of the California Fire Victims Law Center

Our client, Luis Cazares, thought he was lucky.

When the Eaton Fire tore through the foothills of Altadena, his home—unlike many of his neighbors—was still standing. But relief didn’t last. The air inside was thick with chemicals, ash, and toxins. Within minutes, he felt sick. Smoke had soaked into walls, furniture, and ventilation system, rendering the house unlivable.

Luis isn’t alone. Thousands of Californians returned to homes spared by flames but poisoned by smoke. A  2025 JAMA study found that Los Angeles County experienced over 440 excess deaths following the Eaton and Palisades fires, far beyond the 31 official fatalities. And analyses summarized by the Salata Institute at Harvard link wildfire smoke to dramatic spikes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, in some cases reaching 70% above baseline during heavy-smoke periods.

Community testing is beginning to show why. Eaton Fire Residents United, working with independent labs, has found persistent contamination, including heavy metals and combustion byproducts, in several homes even after professional cleaning. These are early findings, but they align with what many families are experiencing: lingering health symptoms and homes that never feel safe again.

Scientists at Caltech, who collected dust and soil samples in Altadena after the fires, have also reported elevated lead levels in a significant portion of the sites they tested, some above EPA reference standards. Lead is just one of many toxic compounds that wildfire smoke can carry for miles.

Smoke Damage Is Not Superficial

Despite this, many homeowners still hear the same refrain from insurers: smoke isn’t a physical loss unless you can see it. At California Fire Victims Law Center, we work with fire survivors across California; we’ve seen a recurring pattern of delays, disputes, and underpayment when contamination is the primary issue.

Luis held a $500,000 insurance policy through the California FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort. After filing a claim, he experienced months of delays, only to receive $55,000—with just $7,000 for repairs—despite a contractor’s $250,000 estimate.

The law is not on the insurers’ side here. In Jay Aliff v. California FAIR Plan (L.A. Superior Court, 2025), the court rejected the argument that damage must be permanent to qualify as a covered physical loss. The ruling was specific to that case, but it underscores what homeowners already know: smoke contamination can cause real, physical damage, even when the walls are still standing.

A State Safety Net That’s Failing Homeowners

The California Department of Insurance (DOI) recently initiated enforcement actions alleging that the FAIR Plan has improperly restricted certain smoke-damage coverage. This is a welcome step, and long overdue.

But many survivors say they are still waiting for meaningful help. Reporting in the Los Angeles Times has documented widespread frustration, from inconsistent claims handling to long delays in investigations, after the 2025 fires. In our cases, we regularly see missing adjuster notes, unexplained low initial offers, or remediation estimates that bear no relationship to contamination findings. These patterns raise serious questions that deserve scrutiny.

The FAIR Plan was designed as a last resort, not a primary market. Yet as private carriers pull out of high-risk areas, more Californians are forced onto a system that was never intended to manage widespread toxic-smoke claims.

What Must Happen Next

California law, such as Insurance Code § 790.03, already prohibits insurers from misrepresenting policy provisions and from failing to investigate claims reasonably. The state must make explicit that verified smoke contamination constitutes a physical loss, full stop.

To protect homeowners and to align practice with science, lawmakers and regulators should take three concrete steps:

1. Codify clear, science-based standards for smoke-damage investigation and remediation, including required testing protocols.
2. Require insurers, including the FAIR Plan, to accept third-party testing that meets those standards.
3. Increase transparency and reporting from both insurers and the DOI regarding smoke-damage claim handling, investigations, and timelines.

Finally, the Department of Insurance should continue to examine whether patterns of underpayment or delay are occurring across multiple smoke-damage claims. In our firm’s cases, we have seen repeated irregularities, such as missing adjuster notes and unexplained low initial offers, that warrant closer scrutiny.

A New Reality

Wildfires are now a year-round reality in California, hotter, longer, and more toxic than ever. Accountability, corporate and governmental alike, must become just as constant. If regulators and insurers keep treating smoke damage as secondary, they are ignoring what may be the most pervasive aspect of wildfire exposure. Californians deserve protection not just from the flames, but the invisible poison left behind.

Kiley Grombacher is a co-founder of the California Fire Victims Law Center, where she represents individuals and communities harmed by wildfires and environmental disasters. She is a leading advocate for fire survivors and has fought to hold utilities and insurers accountable for the true scope of wildfire damage, including the often-overlooked health and property impacts of toxic smoke exposure.