Record-breaking US Wildfires are fueling a cottage industry of boutique services – and many are happy to pay the price

With record-breaking wildfires carving up the American west this summer, Firefighters have become the rarest of civil servants: the kind almost universally lauded as heroes. Reinforcements dropped into California’s firefight from as far away as Australia and American Samoa to bolster strained state and federal crews, reaching a high point of 14,000 firefighters on the ground.

Yet other crews have pulled into the fires’ path with a less grandiose purpose: to save only select addresses. These are the Private Firefighters of the rich or otherwise well-insured: private crews hired by insurance companies to minimize damages and keep policyholders’ homes from going up in smoke.

Related: Why are California wildfires so bad? An interactive look

Needless to say the bills were high. It was just paid through Pure

Related: As California burns, many fear the future of extreme fire has arrived

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