Radim Zenkl's house and instruments destroyed in fire

In addition to links in various places on the Cafe regarding the loss of homes and instruments from California Bluegrass Association members, fellow mandolinist and friend to many, Radim Zenkl, lost his home and a number of instruments in the California fire.

Below, a picture of what was his house. A GoFundMe to help Radim get back on his feet has been established by David Grisman. We hope those of you that have the means to donate will consider a gift to assist. Right now it's just David and Tracy Grisman, Acoustic Disc and the Cafe that has donated and we hope for others to join us in supporting Radim.

What a tragic loss this has turned into for so many.

Attachment 172656

made my contribution, hope others will follow

...When I first heard of the fire I was hoping it didn't get his house, damn, made me cry. I've been to many camps with him, MandoJam and Lark Camp. You're a good man Radim and I hope the donations help. I put in a few shekels and a bit of love too....

So Sad!!! There is also an email for folks who could put on a benefit house concert for Radim in your area.
For that, please contact Radim directly at europick@zenkl.com.

For those of you all around the country who haven't had a chance to host or otherwise attend a Radim house concert, there's no time better, and you're in for a major treat. Go for it.

Don Julin and I just played an impromptu mandolin-duet benefit concert here in Portland Oregon last night. It was a beautiful evening of music, and the ticket sales and extra audience donations to Radim totaled $680 which I just put into the GoFundMe site.

Thanks for coming out, Don, and thanks to all of you who were a part of last night.

I'd be happy to play more benefit house concerts anywhere within a few hours of Portland if anyone is interested in hosting.
best wishes to Radim, and all of you,
Tim C.

Hate to hear this. Thanks Scott for helping to publicize the gofundme. it's good to see the mandolin community looking out for each other.

This is such awful news. Radim is one of the kindest and most talented people in the mandolin business. Just sent in my support.

I've decided to pin this thread to the top of the General Discussions forum until the campaign is over, hoping we can do the best we can for Radim who is a *great* guy. If you ever have the chance to see him perform or attend one of his workshops, don't miss it.

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Originally Posted by Mandolin Cafe

I've decided to pin this thread to the top of the General Discussions forum until the campaign is over, hoping we can do the best we can for Radim who is a *great* guy. If you ever have the chance to see him perform or attend one of his workshops, don't miss it.

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Hey there folks...this is terrible news..i havent signed on/posted in a long time but sad to see this...is the gofundme still active? im happy to help if so...thank you

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Originally Posted by MandoJason

Hey there folks...this is terrible news..i havent signed on/posted in a long time but sad to see this...is the gofundme still active? im happy to help if so...thank you

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If you check the opening link you'll see people are making donations this very moment, so yes, fund-raiser still active.

One of my very favorite mandolin players, and an amazing person! His house concerts are indeed a treat.

I can't understand why his instruments , house etc. are not insured. My humble abode and everything in it is.

Dave H

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Originally Posted by Dave Hanson

I can't understand why his instruments , house etc. are not insured. My humble abode and everything in it is.

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Not sure and I'm no insurance expert, but it's not unheard of for U.S. insurance companies to simply drop (cancel) insurance policies at their whim, including for geographic areas that are now considered "high risk". Also, "collectibles" such as musical instruments might not be fully covered anyway. Don't know how much of this applies in this particular instance, but anyway here are some possibly-relevant articles:

1. How the California Wildfires Are Reshaping Fire Insurance for Homeowners. Snippet:

"California homeowner complaints about being dropped from their plans increased threefold from 2010 to 2016, and complaints about premium hikes increased by 217%, reported Newberry, citing a California Department of Insurance report.

"California Insurance Commissioner David Jones told the AP he expects more rate increases and more policies to not be renewed, particularly in high-risk fire areas."

2. Fires May Make It Harder for Homeowners to Get Insurance in California. Quick quote:

"State officials don’t track exactly how many people are dropped by their insurance companies, but the number of homeowners complaining about it happening more than tripled from 2010 to 2016.

"The problem is most pronounced in high-risk fire areas. In the 24 California counties with the highest fire risk, the number of non-renewals increased 15 percent from 2015 to 2016, according to a Department of Insurance report. Insurers dropped more than 10,000 policies in those counties in 2016.

"Homeowners who need new or replacement policies may have to look harder or pay more."

3. Colorado and elsewhere too, apparently: Up In Smoke - Home Insurance Is Getting Too Hard To Find In Wildfire Country

"... home insurance policy had been canceled. ... house was too likely to be destroyed by a wildfire... Scientists expect wildfire danger to increase.... Meanwhile, more people than ever live in forested areas, with millions of homes threatened in California, Colorado and Texas..."

etc.

I would also speculate that even if everything is covered in a particular instance, there might (or might not) :confused: be a significant time gap before receiving any sort of payout. I've seen that happen in one particular instance years ago with a different type of insurance - life insurance - where an elderly dependent widow had to get by with no income for months until the nearly-useless insurance company got around to paying up, they took their time processing the paperwork, and various additional documents had to be submitted in order for the claim to proceed. Meanwhile, the person still had to figure out how to live, somehow. I don't know how much of that sort of thing goes on with homeowners' insurance, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that it's not an instant cure-all in case of complete annihilation of the covered property.

Yes I can understand that, houses on flood plains here in the UK are very very expensive or impossible to insure. I expect property in any high risk area would be the same.

Dave H