The state's wildland fire season, which stretches from spring to late fall, is taking a toll among homeowners who have never experienced a fire loss, as well as fire protection agencies.

Since the first of the year, Cal Fire officials have been flooded with calls from panicky mountain and foothills residents seeking fire inspections so they can keep their homeowner's insurance.

Allen Bengtson said he recently became No. 389 on the Amador-El Dorado Unit's inspection list after receiving a letter from Allstate.

An inspector under contract to Allstate visited when no one was home and reported concerns about spacing of trees on the rural property between Lotus and Rescue. Bengtson was told he would have to pass an inspection by the local fire agency to renew his coverage.

"The good part is, we're going out and meeting with really motivated landowners," said Chris Anthony, a Cal Fire battalion chief in charge of fire prevention.

But deadlines for insurance-related inspections interfere with Cal Fire's efforts to target high fire-hazard areas and inspect several properties at one time, Anthony said.

Cal Fire's local resources also are likely to be stretched during the summer months as firefighters are sent to wildland fires throughout the state.

Legislation that became effective Jan. 1 – SB 1595 – stipulates that insurers can require more than 100 feet of defensible space, but only if an official with the local fire jurisdiction deems it necessary.

But most of the nonrenewal letters don't involve requests for additional defensible space, said Ernylee Chamlee, chief of wildland fire prevention engineering with the state fire marshal's office.

Anthony said about 98 percent of the inspection requests the Amador-El Dorado Unit has received are from Allstate customers.

The company, which insures about 800,000 homes statewide, stopped writing new homeowner policies in California in 2007, said Pete DeMarco, senior corporate relations officer with Allstate's regional office in Rancho Cordova.

"It was a business decision to make sure we maintain an acceptable level of risk … and to make sure we have the resources to meet the needs of existing customers," he said.

The contract inspectors are well-trained and certified to perform independent inspections, DeMarco said.

Property owners, however, complain that the insurance inspectors' findings often don't coincide with those of the local fire agency.

Donald Watt, a Cal Fire engineer who inspected Bengtson's property, found no problem with the spacing of trees.

"The front looks good. It's a nice green area, and the trees are limbed up," Watt said as he checked for the required 100 feet of defensible space around the house.

He directed Bengtson to remove vines growing over lattice work enclosing a propane tank, cut weeds that sprouted following recent rains, and then call for a reinspection.

Not a problem, Bengtson said: "I'll do a little weed eating and clear out that propane area."

Jim O'Camb, division chief for fire prevention with the El Dorado Hills Fire Department, said he received a letter of nonrenewal from Allstate for his own home on five acres in Rescue. The letter cited as hazards a trampoline and a small tree branch hanging over the roof.

O'Camb termed the concern about the trampoline "ludicrous." He removed the tree branch, and decided to take out a manzanita bush as well. His home subsequently passed inspection by Cal Fire.

"It's good that they're going out and doing it," O'Camb said the of the insurance inspections. "But the insurance companies are not doing it correctly, and they're not doing it for the right reason."

Allstate's DeMarco said the inspections are not an effort to shed homeowner policies in California, but rather an attempt to work with property owners to eliminate hazards, particularly in wildland areas above the 1,500-foot elevation.

Eric Ferguson, an Allstate agent in Placerville, said the spate of inspections and nonrenewal notices has been tough on agents and customers alike.

He said the situation has improved somewhat since the company began giving customers more advance notice.

Molly DeFrank, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Insurance, said insurance companies may decline to renew policies, provided they give proper notice and are consistent in their practices.

She said the department is looking into Allstate's notices.

"We are aware that there are some issues," DeFrank said.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 608-7451.