Even before Darlene 3 Fire, La Pine residents saw up to a 60% jump in home insurance premiums due to wildfire risk

(Update: Adding video, comments from insurance agent and Commissioner DeBone)

THE PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) — In the weeks and months before the threat posed by the Darlene 3 Fire, residents in La Pine were noticing another increase in home insurance, as wildfire risk is causing many insurance companies to pull out of the area.

Karen Brannon, a Farmers Insurance agent in La Pine, said Friday she has seen up to a 60% increase in premiums.

We shared with you last year a similar story for owners of manufactured homes in La Pine. Residents saw a 47% increase in their home insurance rates. One resident told us his insurance had doubled, from $1,700 to $3,400.

Deschutes County Commissioner Tony DeBone said Friday, “People are calling saying, 'Commissioner, do you understand that our rates have been doubled? Or they're going up by 10 or 20 or 25% each year – and mine are too, at home. This is just the market as it is right now.”

DeBone lives in La Pine, and says his home insurance policy premiums have almost doubled.

“We may have been living in a time when we weren't acknowledging that there is the possibility of that risk,” he said. “And that's inflation and interest rates, too.”

Another La Pine resident contacted NewsChannel 21, saying the cost of his policy went from $1,700 to $3,400, and many of his neighbors don't have coverage.

Insurance representatives in La Pine are talking with residents about the increases and say homeowners can help keep the cost down.

Cheri Martinen, the president of Bancorp Insurance in La Pine, said, “Insurability is when you are being Firewise for your own home. Making sure that you have that defensible space around your home, and maybe getting your community involved, your neighbors, so you can be a Firewise community.”

Soaring rates are a trend being seen across the West, as more insurance companies continue to pull out of states like California, due to the increased wildfire risk. In La Pine, American Modern is the only company still ensuring manufactured homes.

“There weren't any buildings destroyed for our fire, and locally here for the Darlene Fire. So maybe it won't be as bad in our area, but it is for the entire state,” Martinen said.

Nationally, Oregon still has some of the lowest rates for home insurance. Legislators have passed laws to push insurance companies to reward homeowners for creating defensible space around their property, but agents say there's been little impact.

A new Senate bill would help fund neighborhood protection groups and certifications to maintain those defensible spaces. DeBone says this is a state issue.

“As a Deschutes County commissioner, we don't really have any authority in that area to mandate anything or change the rules or the calculations,” he said. “The state legislature is probably a place where some of this discussion could happen.”