Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Update on New Jersey Wildfire: Suspect Charged With Arson
Apr 24 2025 // New Jersey officials announced that a 19-year old man has been charged with arson in connection with the Jones Road wildfire that started on April 22 and has spread throughout the southern Ocean County area. Joseph Kling...
UK’s Extremely Dry Start to Year Raises Crop and Wildfire Risks
Apr 24 2025 // The UK’s driest start to the year in four decades is threatening the country’s grain crops and increasing the risk of wildfires. Total precipitation of about 20.5 centimeters (8.1 inches) during the first...
Update on New Jersey Wildfire: 30% Contained, Evacuation Orders Lifted
Apr 23 2025 // A major wildfire in southern New Jersey’s Ocean County expanded last night, leading to the evacuation of 5,000 people and threats to more than 1,320 structures. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service reported last night...
Wildfire Losses Drop Chubb Q1 Net Income 38%, While Tariffs Create ‘Confusion’
Apr 23 2025 // First quarter 2025 net income at Chubb fell nearly 38% to about $1.3 billion as losses from the California wildfires overcame underlying results. Chief Executive Officer Evan G. Greenberg in a statement said the insurer...
High Cost of Living Fears Made Worse by LA Wildfire in UCLA Survey
Apr 21 2025 // The high cost of living remains a main concern in America’s largest exacerbated by the January 2025 wildfires is one of the biggest worries bothering residents of Los Angeles County. A survey focused on the county,...
Revisiting California’s Wildfires: A Personal Journey
Apr 21 2025 // PART TWO OF A TWO-PART SERIES In this second article in a two-part series, Journalist Russ Banham endeavors to better understand the factors behind the devastating fires in Los Angeles County and the roles that public...
Wildfires and Lessons Learned
Apr 21 2025 // “I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they made of the value of things.” — Benjamin Franklin It seems difficult to watch a daily newscast that...
California Sets Aside $170M to Thin Vegetation, Forests to Help Prevent Wildfires
Apr 17 2025 // Gov. Gavin Newsom signed new legislation on Monday that will provide more than $170 million in state funding to help prevent wildfires while signing an order aimed at speeding up the work by easing environmental...
Wildfire Losses Increasing But Still Small Compared to Hurricanes: KCC
Apr 16 2025 // Wildfire losses in the U.S. are increasing, but the risk is still considerably smaller than hurricanes, according to a new KCC white paper. While we usually think of California and other western states—especially since...
Travelers Income Drops 65% on Catastrophe Losses, Primarily California Wildfires
Apr 16 2025 // The Travelers Cos. said first quarter 2024 fell 65% on an underwriting loss of $305 million. Travelers posted first quarter net income of about $395 million compared to about $1.1 billion during the first quarter of 2024....
Southern California Edison Lays Out $925M Plan to Rebuild After LA Wildfires
Apr 15 2025 // Southern California Edison (SCE), a subsidiary of utility Edison International, said on Friday it had submitted an initial plan to rebuild the areas within its service territory that were devastated by the Los Angeles...
Hawaii Lawmakers Wrangle Bills to Rescue Utility Hit by Wildfire Suits
Apr 14 2025 // Hawaiian Electric Co. is making a final legislative push this month, asking lawmakers to help shore up its financial foundation, which crumbled after the 2023 Maui wildfire that killed 102 people and destroyed much of...
Bill That Tries to Address Wildfires in West Has Bipartisan Support
Apr 14 2025 // A bipartisan group of senators is supporting a bill designed to reduce wildfire risks and increase firefighting cooperation across state lines in the U.S. Western region. The Fix Our Forests Act is backed by senators from...
California Wildfires Had Little Impact on Reinsurers’ Risk Appetite During April Renewals
Apr 9 2025 // Property-catastrophe capacity remained adequate to meet demand during the April 1 renewals for US reinsurance buyers, despite the record losses from California’s January wildfires, according to Aon and Gallagher Re...
Death Toll From Los Angeles Wildfires Reaches 30
Apr 7 2025 // Nearly three months after two wildfires destroyed thousands of homes in the Los Angeles area, officials said the death toll from the blazes had reached 30. A team responded last week following a report of possible human...
Today’s Commercial Property Market in ‘Better Place’ Brokers Assess 4 Current Trends: Vacancies, Alternatives, Valuations, Wildfires
Apr 7 2025 // Commercial property insurance rates continue to fall for most accounts after most property insurers saw profitable books in 2024. That’s good news for insureds, commercial property brokers say, as clients begin to...
An Insurance Journalist’s Perspective on Southern California’a Wildfires
Apr 7 2025 // PART ONE OF A TWO-PART SERIES It was pitch black in the house and the power was off. The Santa Ana winds were howling. As planned, my wife, Jenny, gathered our two dogs and cat and scurried them into her car as I shuttled...
Viewpoint: Smoke Damage from LA Wildfires Leaves Questions to Be Answered
Apr 2 2025 // The question has come up wondering if smoke damage is covered for those homes that were impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires but were not damaged by the actual fires. A cloud of smoke from a fire is larger than the actual...
As Wildfire Season Arrives, Budget Woes and Federal Uncertainty Put States at Risk
Mar 31 2025 // Budget woes, combined with cuts to the federal wildfire-fighting workforce and President Donald Trump’s tariff and sovereignty threats against Canada, have made it more difficult for state officials to plan for the...
Department of Labor Award Continues Disaster-Relief Jobs for Maui Wildfires
Mar 31 2025 // The U.S. Department of Labor is awarding $2.5 million to Hawaii to continue employment and training services and support disaster-relief jobs for people in communities affected by the wildfires that swept across the island...
