Text by Joyce Chen, Architectural Digest
When Kim Kardashian and Kanye West called in a private team of firefighters to protect their $60 million Hidden Hills mansion, they were doing more than just looking out for themselves. The couple’s quick response to the harrowing Woolsey wildfire actually helped their neighbors, too. According to TMZ, “a few neighbours” are expressing gratitude toward the superstar couple for hiring “concierge” firefighters to dig ditches that ensure that the fire won't spread to other houses.
The Kardashian-West home sits at the end of a cul-de-sac adjacent to a field that, should it catch fire and thus endanger their home, could also cause other homes to perish. Private firefighting squads are a luxury that has been made available to those living in fire-prone areas (and with ample resources) for years. In 2007, the Los Angeles Times reported that insurance company AIG offered such services to residents in some of California’s richest zip codes, including Malibu, as well as in a dozen resort areas in Colorado. The same Times story revealed that the premium for the service at the time was at least $10,000, specifically for homes worth at least $1 million.
The Kardashian-Wests are only one family of many that had to evacuate their homes last week following the Woolsey Fire and the Hill Fire, which hit Los Angeles and Ventura counties, respectively. As of Monday, these blazes were declared the deadliest in the state’s modern history, with a death toll of 44 people. Several notable Hollywood sets and homes—including a replica of the set from the TV series M*A*S*H, as well as Western Town at Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills, a set that was most recently used for the hit HBO series Westworld—have been obliterated by the inferno. Other historic structures, such as the historic Sepulveda Adobe in Malibu Canyon, a 155-year-old dwelling built by homesteaders in 1863, have been “reduced to [a] shell.” There are numerous ways to help those affected by the fire, including financial donations to charities and to organizations like the American Red Cross.
Feature Image: Instagram/KimKardashianWest
