Latest Wildfire Headlines

All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Trump Putting Zeldin in Charge of Permits to Rebuild After LA Wildfires

Jan 29 2026 // President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he will put Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin in charge of helping homeowners get permits to rebuild after the California wildfires last January. Related:...

Trump Orders Federal Takeover of LA Wildfire Rebuilding Efforts

Jan 27 2026 // President Donald Trump signed an executive order that allows the federal government to preempt state and local regulations in the recovery efforts of last year’s Los Angeles wildfires, blaming the destruction and its...

FEMA Extends Housing Aid for Maui Wildfire Survivors Until 2027

Jan 26 2026 // U.S. officials have granted a request to extend housing assistance for survivors of catastrophic 2023 wildfires, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said. Nearly 1,000 households displaced by fire were anxiously awaiting word on...

The Return Period for An LA Wildfire-Scale Event May Be Shorter Than You Think

Jan 15 2026 // There has been no shortage of analyses and reporting released for the one-year anniversary of the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, which destroyed more than 16,000 properties and have generated more than $22 billion in...

Wildfires, Storms Fuel 2025 Insured Losses of $108 Billion: Munich Re Report

Jan 13 2026 // Global insured losses from natural disasters fell to $108 billion last year, Munich Re said in a report on Tuesday. That compared with an inflation-adjusted $147 billion in 2024, the German reinsurer said, as the U.S....

One Dead in Australian Wildfires That May Burn for Weeks to Come

Jan 12 2026 // One person has died in wildfires in the Australian state of Victoria that have burned out an area slightly larger than Rhode Island. A body was found about 100 meters from a vehicle near the fire-affected town of Gobur,...

Less Than a Dozen Homes Have Been Rebuilt a Year After LA Wildfires

Jan 9 2026 // On the first anniversary of the most destructive wildfires in the L.A. area, the scant home construction projects stand out among the still mostly flattened landscapes. Fewer than a dozen homes have been rebuilt in Los...

Their Homes Survived The LA Wildfires; A Year Later They Fear Living in Them

Jan 7 2026 // “DANGER: Lead Work Area” reads a sign on a front door of an Altadena home. “May damage fertility or the unborn child. Causes damage to the central nervous system.” Block after block there are...

JPMorgan, Citi Extending Mortgage Relief for LA Wildfire Victims

Jan 6 2026 // California Gov. Gavin Newsom said a group of major banks have agreed to extend mortgage relief for Los Angeles wildfire victims, as the area struggles to rebuild one year after the devastating blazes. Wells Fargo &...

Morningstar: A Year Later, LA Wildfires Were ‘Significant Stress Event’ for Insurance

Jan 6 2026 // In a report one year on from the Los Angeles area wildfires in 2025, which started on Jan. 7, Morningstar DBS Research issued a perspective that called the fires “a significant stress event” for...

Millions at Risk of Los Angeles-Style Wildfires in Australia

Jan 6 2026 // Millions of people living on the expanding outskirts of Australia’s major cities face an increasing risk of urban wildfires similar to the deadly blazes in Los Angeles last year. Suburbs on the fringes of centers...

Woman Who Lost Home in LA Wildfire Sowed Hope Where Her Home Once Stood

Jan 6 2026 // Missi Dowd-Figueroa brought life back to the fire-ravaged plot where her home once stood—one sunflower at a time. The registered nurse and mother of three lost her 1898 farm-style house in the Eaton Fire, one of two...

Insurance Payments Now at $22.4B From LA Wildfires One Year Ago

Jan 5 2026 // Insurers have paid more than $22.4 billion on tens of thousands of claims from the Los Angles wildfires that broke out a year ago on Jan. 7. The claims data, which comes from the California Department of Insurance, shows...

[Video] Wildfires, Lawsuits, AI, and M&A: A Look Back at Insurance in 2025

Dec 31 2025 // Insurance Journal recaps the biggest stories of 2025—across all of our regions—from record-breaking wildfires and climate losses to broker mega-deals, litigation reform, cyber threats, AI-driven layoffs, and signs of...

Rare Weather Warning Issued as Strong Gusts Fuel Colorado Wildfire Threats

Dec 22 2025 // The National Weather Service on Friday issued a rare warning for part of Colorado’s Front Range as hurricane-force winds and tinder dry conditions boosted the threat of wildfire across several counties, while flood...

Catastrophe Bonds Linked to Wildfires Lose ‘Untouchable’ Status

Dec 19 2025 // Alternative investment managers are starting to take a serious interest in catastrophe bonds tied to wildfires, moving into a risk category that just a few years ago was seen as too difficult to model. More than $5 billion...

Texas Sues Utility Company Xcel Over ‘Blatant Negligence’ in Fatal Wildfire

Dec 17 2025 // Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Xcel Energy Inc., accusing the utility company of “blatant negligence” over its role in the Smokehouse Creek wildfire that killed three people and caused more than $1...

California Again Delays Wildfire Protection Rules for Homes

Dec 10 2025 // A California state agency won’t meet Gov. Gavin Newsom’s year-end deadline to finish long-delayed regulations to protect homes from wildfires, rules that experts say could have limited the destruction of the...

Arizona Study Group Issues Report on Homeowners Insurance and Wildfire Risk

Dec 5 2025 // A report from a regulator-created group found that a multifaceted approach to addressing wildfires and lack of insurance affordability in Arizona should be tackled with a multifaceted approach that includes homeowners,...

Report Asks Washington Lawmakers to Require Insurers to Better Track Wildfire Risk

Dec 3 2025 // A working group on wildfires in Washington wants the state Legislature to consider requiring insurers to internally track instances in which wildfire risk materially contributes to a policy nonrenewal, cancellation or...