Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
A&M Study: Texas’ Future Depends on Climate Preparedness
Mar 6 2020 // Texans should expect warmer weather, more wildfires and urban flooding, and increased impact from hurricanes through 2036 thanks to climate change, according to a new study from the Office of the Texas State Climatologist...
One U.S. State May Look at Insurers’ Fossil Fuel Investments and Underwriting to Combat Climate Change
Mar 5 2020 // A Connecticut lawmaker has plans for a bill that not only calls for the state to look at which insurers have fossil fuel investments – a growing trend among government entities as of late – but also which ones are...
Report Shows Underestimated Weather Led to Colorado Wildfire
Mar 5 2020 // A controlled burn that became a wildfire in Colorado was the result of weather conditions that were underestimated by fire personnel, state officials said. The Colorado Department of Public Safety Compliance and...
Climate Change Heightens Risk of Fierce Australia Wildfires: Study
Mar 5 2020 // Climate change is adding to the risk of fierce wildfires in Australia, according to a scientific study of this season’s blazes that razed an area the size of England and killed dozens of people and more than a...
PG&E Not Committing to Expanding Tree-Trimming Force in California
Mar 4 2020 // Lawyers for Pacific Gas & Electric said the utility can’t commit to hiring hundreds more tree trimmers in the way that a federal judge wants to cut the risk of starting more catastrophic wildfires in...
USDA’s Wildfire Indemnity Program Offers Possible Drought Assistance for California Farmers
Feb 28 2020 // U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced additional disaster assistance available to agricultural producers, including producers impacted by drought and excess moisture as well as sugar beet growers. California...
California Bill Aimed at Property Insurance in Communities Investing in Wildfire Prevention
Feb 28 2020 // Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-Marin County, has introduced Assembly Bill 3258, which would require property insurance providers to take into consideration local government investments in wildfire prevention when determining...
California Worries About Drought and Wildfires Amid Dry Winter
Feb 28 2020 // California officials are bracing for the potential of another drought and an early and more intense wildfire season amid a record-breaking warm and dry February. February is shaping up to be driest on record for much of...
California Public Utilities Commission Fines PG&E $2.1B over Wildfires
Feb 28 2020 // The California Public Utilities Commission has issued an administrative law judge decision imposing $2.137 billion in penalties against Pacific Gas and Electric Company for the utility’s role in the catastrophic 2017...
California Wildfire Victims Fear They’ll Be Last in Payout
Feb 27 2020 // A $13.5 billion settlement between victims of California’s catastrophic wildfires and the utility blamed for causing them was supposed to bring some peace and hope to people still reeling from the...
PG&E Fires Contractor After Probe Involving California Wildfires
Feb 26 2020 // Pacific Gas & Electric has fired a contractor hired to haul debris from the site of a deadly 2018 Northern California wildfire, saying the company was over-billing the utility and paying “large sums of money and...
Berkshire Hathaway P/C Insurance Profit Down in 2019
Feb 24 2020 // Full-year insurance results at Berkshire Hathaway disappointed in 2019, with after-tax earnings from underwriting falling to $325 million in 2019 compared to $1.6 billion in 2018. Earnings from primary insurance operations...
CoreLogic: 2019 Was 7th Year in Last Decade with 10 or More Disasters of $1B-Plus
Feb 24 2020 // Last year was a particularly hazardous one, with natural catastrophes causing excessive damages in what appears to be an ongoing trend of higher losses in the past decade, while also posing a danger in many U.S....
A Tale of Two Californias: Managing Wildfire Risk in the Year 2030
Feb 24 2020 // For most of the 20th century, the insurance industry considered wildfires to be little more than a nuisance. They were frequent but rarely resulted in more than a handful of claims, and underwriters priced for them in the...
California FAIR Plan Can Offer Only Fire Insurance, Judge Says
Feb 21 2020 // A fund that offers only fire insurance to California residents in wildfire-prone areas can’t be required to provide coverage for other hazards such as flooding or theft, a judge ruled this week. Superior Court Judge...
PG&E Banking on Big Profits After Utility Leaves Bankruptcy
Feb 20 2020 // Pacific Gas and Electric says it expects to become more profitable than ever after it emerges from bankruptcy and pays off more than $25 billion in losses sustained in catastrophic wildfires ignited by its outdated...
California Commissioner, Lawmakers Intro ‘Hardened Homes’ Wildfire Bill Requiring Admitted Market to Offer Coverage
Feb 18 2020 // A newly proposed bill would clarify under California law the concept of “hardened homes” that are safer or more resistant to wildfires and then require admitted carriers to cover those homes. California’s...
Report: Death Toll in 2018 California Wildfire Likely Includes 50 More People
Feb 13 2020 // Doctors and other experts say at least 50 more people, many of them elderly or ill, likely died as a result of the 2018 wildfire that devastated the town of Paradise, California, but were not counted in the official death...
Report: 2019 Was 7th Year in Last Decade with 10 or More Disasters of $1B-Plus
Feb 12 2020 // Last year was a particularly hazardous one, with natural catastrophes causing excessive damages in what appears to be an ongoing trend of higher losses in the past decade, while also posing a danger in many U.S....
California Utilities’ Wildfire Prevention Plans Call for More Blackouts
Feb 11 2020 // California utilities plan to continue shutting off power to customers during dry and windy conditions to prevent sparking deadly wildfires, but they aim to make outages more targeted to avoid widespread blackouts,...
