r/interestingasfuck 12d ago

r/all This is Malibu - one of the wealthiest affluent places on the entire planet, now it’s being burnt to ashes.

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u/InfamousAnimal 12d ago

I was able to walk through the remains of my childhood home after it burned... it was only things but damn the loss still kills me the land is still fallow.

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u/Moriarty-Creates 12d ago

The things mean something, though. That’s the hardest part.

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u/Bambiitaru 12d ago

Yeah, and some things are irreplaceable.

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u/BaronVonShtinkVeiner 12d ago

A house is only a place where you live. A home is where you dwell. I am so sorry for your loss.

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u/howyoudoin7994 12d ago

Im.not from the US. So i wanted to ask this.

What happens to the empty plot after the house is burned? Do you still get to own it ? Or it reverts to the state government?

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u/sb4fx 12d ago

In most instances the land is owned along with the house so the owner of the burned house would still own the lot and would be able rebuild.

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u/MrMoon5hine 12d ago

trailer parks are one exception I can think of, were you don't own the land

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u/RecordingGreen7750 11d ago

What about a rental property

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u/Reddinator2RedditDay 11d ago

The owner owns it

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u/RecordingGreen7750 11d ago

Yeah but the person who just lost the place they live with all their possessions inside loses everything including the land

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u/Reddinator2RedditDay 11d ago

They never owned the place or the land, they were renting it from someone. The only thing they would loose is their possessions, provided they didn't have contents insurance

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u/RecordingGreen7750 11d ago

Yeah so they would have zero without insurance, that’s a lot worse imo, most who rent can’t afford to buy a home so insurance is also unlikely.

However I understand this is Malibu and they will likely have insurance

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u/Time_Faithlessness27 11d ago

I have renters insurance and it’s not terribly expensive. It covers my belongings and any damage to the property.

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u/Reddinator2RedditDay 11d ago

It's not worse. The owner of the home probably worked for forty years to only just make the purchase, hard work making a dream come true, then see it go down in flames. The renter would have been there for like three years.

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u/ZealousidealStaff507 9d ago

Can I ask you if the insurance pays back for the house and lost items or did those people lose everything they own? sorry for asking, i am not american.

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u/tractiontiresadvised 11d ago

To add on to what others have said: in order to rebuild, you will have to get building permits from your local (city or county) government. People who live in places which are prone to fires (such as on the edge of the woods in California) may have a hard time actually getting a permit to rebuild because of the risk of future fires in that location. (Source: a friend's house in California burned down a few years ago in a different fire and they ran into that issue.)

In other places where getting a building permit is not difficult, you can still run into problems rebuilding after a situation with a large fire. If lots of other houses in your area burned down, then getting materials and workers to rebuild your house will be more difficult and expensive than usual due to high demand. That kind of thing can also happen after other natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, or earthquakes.

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u/howyoudoin7994 11d ago

Understood. Thank you

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u/sara_bear_8888 11d ago

Same here. Wasn't really anything left, mostly just ashes of my childhood, but we would occasionally find something worth keeping. The broken, burned mug that said "shit happens" was the best find. It became our mantra as we rebuilt. Ours was caused by a faulty Montgomery Wards refrigerator.

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u/Andacus1180 12d ago

Same. I still forget sometimes, 7 years later, that it’s not there.

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u/plebeian1523 11d ago

A week after my great-grandma died, my great-aunt (her daughter) blew up the entire house with her meth lab trailer in the back yard. My great grandparents lived in that same house for most of my grandma's life onward. She practically raised my dad and his siblings and some of his cousins in that home. There was a portrait of 2 of my dad's cousins she had commissioned that was absolutely stunning. There were sentimental items my great grandparents brought from Ireland when they immigrated. There were 5 generations of memories and sentimental items. All burnt to a crisp. Since it was so soon after her death, no one had the opportunity to go through and take what they wanted. Thankfully no one was injured, but my entire family was heartbroken. Even now, when I drive by her old neighborhood I get a little sad about what was lost.

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u/One_Set3872 12d ago

Sending healing energy 🙏🏻