Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Oregon Lawsuits Seek $1B From Pacific Power over Wildfires
Mar 12 2021 // Two new lawsuits filed in Marion County, Ore., seek more than $1 billion in damages from Pacific Power, claiming the utility’s negligence led to wildfires in the Santiam Canyon last year. The two lawsuits filed...
More Than 2,300 Acres Burned by 24 Wildfires in Alabama
Mar 10 2021 // Wildfires have burned more than 2,300 acres of land across Alabama in recent days, forestry officials said Monday as firefighters battled two dozen blazes statewide. Fire charred 560 acres in St. Clair County, and two...
California Commissioner Wants Rate Transparency Rules for Wildfire Risk
Mar 8 2021 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has proposed new rules to give homeowners and businesses open access to their properties’ wildfire risk scores. The new rules would require insurance companies to...
Oregon Hotel Fined for Overcharging People During Wildfire
Mar 1 2021 // A hotel in Roseburg, Oregon, has been fined $31,000 for overcharging dozens of area residents who sought rooms after fleeing a large wildfire in September. The News-Review reports SUBH Investment LLC, which does business...
Fire Victim Trust Sues California Utility Executives for Causing Wildfires
Feb 24 2021 // The Fire Victim Trust has filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court against certain former officers and directors of PG&E Corp. and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for their role in causing the catastrophic 2017...
California Commissioner Wants Rate Transparency Rules for Wildfire Risk
Feb 23 2021 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has proposed new rules to give homeowners and businesses open access to their properties’ wildfire risk scores. The new rules would require insurance companies to...
California Surplus Lines Weathered Pandemic, Wildfires, Civil Unrest
Feb 22 2021 // In a year marred by a pandemic, massive Western U.S. wildfires, civil unrest, and a contentious election, California’s surplus lines market “didn’t miss a beat.” That was the message from Ben McKay,...
Most Oregonians Applying for Disaster Aid After 2020 Wildfires Denied
Feb 16 2021 // More than 24,000 Oregonians applied for federal disaster assistance after the catastrophic 2020 wildfires and about 57% of them were denied. Jefferson Public Radio reports that nearly 14,000 Oregonians have been denied...
California Surplus Lines Weathered Pandemic, Wildfires, Civil Unrest
Feb 9 2021 // In a year marred by a pandemic, massive Western U.S. wildfires, civil unrest, and a contentious election, California’s surplus lines market “didn’t miss a beat.” That was the message from Ben McKay,...
Damage From Wildfire Smoke Extends to Infrastructure, Businesses, Other Communities
Feb 8 2021 // The damage caused by wildfires can be devastating, gutting structures and driving out people who live and work nearby. And researchers say the smoke from the annually recurring blazes also delivers economic damage to areas...
Arizona Facing Above-Normal Wildfire Threats
Feb 8 2021 // Drought remains in place across Arizona with a likelihood of warm and dry conditions in coming months even after a recent storm dropped heavy snow across much of the state’s high country, a 2021 wildfire season...
California Largest Utilities Will Spend Billions to Lower Wildfire Risk
Feb 8 2021 // California’s largest utilities said that they will spend about $13 billion to reduce the risk of wildfires following the worst fire season in modern state history and a string of blazes that were blamed on their...
National Fire Protection Association, State Farm Funding Wildfire Preparedness
Feb 4 2021 // The National Fire Protection Association and State Farm have kicked off a funding awards application period for the eighth national Wildfire Community Preparedness Day on Saturday, May 1, which helps communities prepare...
Drought, Wildfire Threat Lead to Disaster Declaration in Texas
Feb 3 2021 // Saying exceptional drought conditions pose a wildfire threat in a large swath of West and Southwest Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for counties in those areas of the state. Abbott said drought...
Utility Paying $2B Settlement in Deadly 2018 California Fire
Jan 27 2021 // Southern California Edison will pay $2.2 billion to settle insurance claims from a deadly, destructive wildfire sparked by its equipment in 2018, the utility announced this week. Edison, which acknowledged no wrongdoing,...
California Releases Final ZIPs for Non-Renewal Protection for 2020 Wildfires
Jan 4 2021 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced that nearly 500 policyholders in six ZIP codes affected by the Mountain View Fire in Mono County were included in the mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance...
The Other New Normal: Wildfires from a Winery Insurer’s Perspective
Dec 21 2020 // Arriving on the scene after a wildfire has ravaged an area is never easy. One can only imagine what experiencing such devastation is like for the victims of these fires, who have lost homes, livelihoods and even loved...
RMS Estimates that Total Insured Losses from the 2020 Western U.S. Wildfires Will Be Between US$7bn – US$13bn
Dec 17 2020 // Latest RMS estimate includes loss from new fires that started and spread following the previous RMS loss estimate in September Newark, CA – December 15, 2020 – RMS, the world’s leading catastrophe risk solutions...
Oregon Wildfire Hazardous Waste Cleanup Complete
Dec 15 2020 // The Environmental Protection Agency said it has completed the cleanup of household hazardous waste from properties burned in Oregon wildfires. The September fires led to an initial EPA response in Jackson County, which...
RMS Says Insured Losses from 2020 Western U.S. Wildfires $7-$13B
Dec 15 2020 // RMS estimates insured losses from the record-breaking western U.S. wildfires this season will be between $7 and $13 billion. These losses reflect estimates as of Dec. 1. The ignition of the highly damaging Glass Fire and...
