Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Weighs Catastrophic Wildfire Fund as Way to Protect Utilities
Apr 5 2019 // Creation of a catastrophic wildfire risk pool is emerging as the most likely option as California lawmakers seek to protect the solvency of investor-owned utilities from record payouts for fire damages. PG&E filed for...
Judge Tells PG&E to Hold Dividends to Pay to Help Reduce Wildfire Risks
Apr 3 2019 // A U.S. judge said on Tuesday that PG&E Corp. cannot resume dividends and must use the money to reduce wildfire risk in California, stopping short of more costly measures he proposed earlier this year. The new criminal...
Hurricane Michael Debris Fueling Wildfire in Florida Panhandle
Apr 2 2019 // Nearly two dozen Florida homes have been evacuated because of a 500-acre wildfire that grew rapidly overnight because of downed trees from Hurricane Michael. Authorities say the fire broke out Saturday in the Panhandle...
FEMA Accused of Wrongly Releasing Data of California Wildfire Victims
Apr 1 2019 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency wrongly released to a contractor the personal information of 2.3 million survivors of devastating 2017 hurricanes and wildfires, potentially exposing the victims to identity fraud...
California Commissioner Yet to Move on Petition from Climate Activists for More Insurer Regs
Mar 28 2019 // Nobody’s saying much as California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara considers how he will respond to a petition submitted by climate change activists urging him to place new regulations on insurers to disclose...
How One Company, AT&T, Is Using Models to Prepare for Natural Disaster Costs
Mar 28 2019 // By 2050, residents of southern Florida could become familiar with storms borne on 90-mph winds. Water levels during floods will rise by an average of 5 percent across the Southeast. And it will not be out of the ordinary...
California Disaster Insurance Act Passes Key Committee
Mar 26 2019 // Legislation by that could lead California to consider buying insurance in the private market to cover rapidly increasing costs of fighting wildfires due to climate change cleared a key committee vote Tuesday. Senate Bill...
California to Waive Environmental Rules to Prep for Wildfire Season
Mar 26 2019 // California Gov. Gavin Newsom has moved to bypass environmental regulations to prepare for the next wildfire season, a move he said was necessary to prevent further loss of life even as it frustrated activists in a state...
PG&E Pushes Back on Judge’s Proposals to Prevent Wildfires
Mar 25 2019 // Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is pushing back on a U.S. judge’s revised proposals to prevent the utility’s equipment from causing more wildfires, saying it could not “monitor every tree at every moment...
FEMA Gave Private Contractor Personal Data on 2.3 Million Hurricane, Wildfire Survivors
Mar 25 2019 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency wrongly released to a contractor the personal information of 2.3 million survivors of devastating 2017 hurricanes and wildfires, potentially exposing the victims to identity fraud...
Burning Down a House to Show How to Build for Wildfire Defense
Mar 20 2019 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv After only a year into his job as CEO and president of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, Roy Wright is setting the place on fire. The IBHS conducted a demonstration in...
$3M Grant for California Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program
Mar 18 2019 // The California Fire Safe Council in partnership with the Watershed Research and Training Center has been awarded a $3 million grant, part of which is to help improve wildfire resiliency. The Regional Forest and Fire...
Consumer Advocacy in an Age of Consumer, Insurer Options
Mar 18 2019 // Today’s Insurance Consumer Advocates Are Tackling Some New and Old Issues Years ago, insurance consumer advocates in the states were most often focused on getting consumers access to insurance at fair prices. They...
Deadly 2017 California Wildfire Found Sparked by Edison Power Lines
Mar 14 2019 // The devastating Thomas Fire that killed two people and destroyed more than 1,000 structures northwest of Los Angeles in December 2017 was sparked by power lines owned by Southern California Edison Co , fire officials said...
Aon, Insurtech Zesty.ai Partner to Enhance Property Underwriting with AI Data
Mar 13 2019 // Aon has formed a strategic alliance with Zesty.ai, a San Francisco-based insurtech startup, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance insurers’ property underwriting. Zesty.ai’s technology provides...
Forest Management After Fires a Focus for California Agency
Mar 7 2019 // After successive years of devastating wildfires, California’s fire agency has announced a plan that would dramatically increase the removal of dead trees and other forest management efforts with the help of the...
Wildfires Threaten Towns in Rural Southeast Australia
Mar 7 2019 // More homes were being threatened Tuesday [March 5] by wildfires that have burned dozens of homes and buildings in rural southeast Australia. Victoria state Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said emergency...
Judge Orders PG&E Compliance With Fire-Safety Laws
Mar 6 2019 // A federal judge is requiring PG&E Corp. to abide by rules governing how the utility operates its power lines in California, seeking to reform what he described as “dismal” management that led to a series of...
Opinion: California’s Wildfires Burn Our Climate Illusions
Mar 4 2019 // Joan Didion’s “Holy Water,” written in 1977, is a paean to the elaborate engineering that supplied her taps in Malibu and filled drinking glasses in Hollywood restaurants. At its heart is a warning: The...
Insurer Group Warns on Property Losses Due to Climate Change
Feb 27 2019 // Insurers are increasingly worried that rising temperatures will lead to a slump in property values that could spark broader financial turmoil. Those were the conclusions a group run out of the University of Cambridge...
