Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Wildfires Burn Tens of Thousands of Acres Across Texas
Apr 10 2009 // Smoke from wildfires burning across North and West Texas is blowing into Austin and other locations in the center of the state, and Dallas-area residents are under an air-quality warning as a result of the fires. The Texas...
Texas Wildfire Destroys Homes; Firefighters Hurt by Smoke Inhalation
Apr 6 2009 // The Texas Forest Services says 24 firefighters have been treated for smoke inhalation from fighting Texas wildflires, near the Panhandle town of Wheeler, where four homes have been lost and an estimated 20 homes damaged in...
Arizona’s Wildfire Season Poses Many Risks for Homeowners
Apr 1 2009 // As the drought in the Southwest worsens, the wildfire season in Arizona grows longer, burning more acreage and threatening private property in forested areas. “The Arizona State Forestry Division estimates more than...
Florida Receives $900K Stimulus Funds for Wildfire Prevention
Mar 17 2009 // Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson announced that his department has been awarded $900,000 under the federal stimulus plan to conduct wildfire prevention efforts. The funding, which...
Wildfire Threat in Mississippi High
Mar 11 2009 // A Mississippi forestry official says property owners should be cautious when burning leaves or brush because conditions are ripe for wildfires. Jimmy Mordica, director of conservation education and public outreach for the...
California Wildfires May Take Longer to Settle
Jan 11 2009 // Industry analysts are predicting insured losses from the Freeway Complex, Sayre and Tea Fires that burned Southern California in mid-November will range from $600 million to $800 million, as of estimates gathered in early...
California Hosts Insurance Recovery Forum for Wildfire Survivors
Jan 9 2009 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is hosting town hall-style Insurance Recovery Forums for survivors of the November 2008 wildfires. The first of such town hall meetings was held Jan. 8 in Sylmar, Calif....
Catastrophe Losses Up 7% in 2008, Making It One of Costliest Years for Insurers
Dec 30 2008 // The high frequency and severity of Atlantic hurricanes in 2008, coupled with other weather-related and man-made losses, placed the year among the costliest on record for insured catastrophe losses. That’s according...
Farmers Insurance Claims California County Contributed to Wildfire Damage
Dec 19 2008 // The giant Farmers Insurance Group blames Santa Cruz County for contributing to the spread of the summertime Trabing wildfire, which destroyed dozens of homes. Farmers filed $3 million worth of claims saying the county...
California Sues Utility Over 2006 Ventura County Wildfire
Dec 8 2008 // California is suing Southern California Edison and two property owners to recover the $7.4 million spent to fight a 2006 wildfire that burned five homes. The attorney general filed the negligence suit late November in...
California Wildfires May Take Longer to Settle
Nov 30 2008 // Industry analysts are predicting insured losses from the Freeway Complex, Sayre and Tea Fires that burned Southern California in mid-November will range from $600 million to $800 million. Comparatively, those losses are...
Heavy Rainfall in California Wildfire Zones Could Lead to Landslides, Flooding
Nov 26 2008 // As heavy rainfall is forecasted for Southern California, particularly in areas recently ravaged by destructive wildfires, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner advised all Californians to check their coverage and evaluate...
California Deploys Enforcement Officers in Santa Barbara
Nov 24 2008 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has activated a disaster fraud task force in Santa Barbara, which includes the California Department of Insurance (CDI) Fraud and Investigation Divisions, the Santa Barbara...
California Insured Fire Losses Could Reach $800 Million
Nov 21 2008 // As the fires continue to burn in parts of southern California, industry analysts are predicting insured losses from the Freeway Complex, Sayre and Tea Fires will range from $600 million to $800 million. Catastrophe risk...
Officials Blame Santa Barbara Wildfire on Bonfire
Nov 20 2008 // A bonfire built by college students and never fully extinguished was responsible for the massive wildfire in Santa Barbara that destroyed 210 homes, many of them multimillion-dollar properties, authorities said. An...
California’s Emergency Fire Costs Hit $305 Million; Governor To Propose Insurance Surcharge
Nov 20 2008 // The Southern California wildfires are burning a bigger hole in California’s budget, adding to the state’s $11.2 billion deficit, the governor’s finance spokesman said. The state has spent $305 million on...
California State Fund Extends Credit Relief to Policyholders Affected by Southern California Fires
Nov 19 2008 // The California State Compensation Insurance Fund announced it will extend credit to policyholders who have suffered financial loss or business disruption caused by the fires in Montecito, Orange County and Sylmar. To date,...
Majority of Southern California Wildfires Contained
Nov 19 2008 // Firefighters are still working on containing two of the fires burning in Southern California. In the past five days, more than 42,000 acres have burned, and close to 1,000 properties have been destroyed, according to CAL...
Firefighters Make Gains on Southern California Wildfires
Nov 18 2008 // Firefighters made progress on extinguishing the fires burning in Southern California yesterday, thanks to reduced wind conditions. To date, three of the five fires have been contained, although more than 44,000 acres have...
Fire Victims Should Seek Safety, Make Contact with Insurers
Nov 18 2008 // As firefighters work to contain the Tea, Sayre, and Freeway Complex fires throughout Southern California, property/casualty insurance companies are on the ground reaching out to policyholders to facilitate immediate...
