Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insured Losses from Last Year’s California Wildfires up to $11.4B
Jan 28 2019 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Monday announced that more than $11.4 billion in insured losses have been reported from the November 2018 fires. That is a 25 percent increase, or more than $2.3 billion,...
PG&E Cleared of Liability in 2017 California Wildfire, Bankruptcy Still Seen
Jan 28 2019 // California fire investigators last week concluded that a major 2017 wildfire was caused by privately owned electrical equipment, prompting the state’s new governor to estimate that PG&E Corp’s potential...
PG&E Erases Settlements with California Victims as Bankruptcy Looms
Jan 28 2019 // As PG&E Corp. prepares to file for bankruptcy, victims of wildfires are getting a preview of how they’re likely to be treated as the utility reorganizes — harshly. Ahead of an expected filing for Chapter 11...
Assessing Effects of Government Shutdown on Wildfires, Workforce, Research
Jan 28 2019 // The government may be reopening, but the consequences of the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history are likely to linger for national parks, forests, the federal workforce and cutting-edge scientific research. Some may...
PG&E Cleared of Liability in Major 2017 Fire; Bankruptcy Still Likely
Jan 25 2019 // California fire investigators on Thursday concluded that a major 2017 wildfire was caused by privately owned electrical equipment, prompting the state’s new governor to estimate that PG&E Corp’s potential...
PG&E: Judge’s Aggressive Fire Prevention Plan Would Cost $150B
Jan 24 2019 // PG&E Corp. estimates it would cost as much as $150 billion this year alone to comply with a federal judge’s proposal to prevent wildfires. California’s largest investor-owned utility said U.S. District...
California’s Massive Wildfires Push Travelers to Seek Higher Premiums
Jan 22 2019 // California’s deadly wildfires are raising the specter of higher insurance premiums for homeowners in the state. After “two significant years in a row of losses, I think the discussion and the debate about the...
Travelers Grew Q4 Profit Despite California Wildfire, Hurricane Michael Losses
Jan 22 2019 // Travelers Cos. reported that despite catastrophe losses from the California wildfires and Hurricane Michael, it boosted its profit in the fourth quarter of 2018 thanks to growth in premiums and investment income. Net...
Edison Trying to Shift Blame for California Mudslides
Jan 22 2019 // Edison International said much of the damage from the mudslides that swept through the coastal town of Montecito last year was the result of poorly designed and maintained debris basins for which local governments are...
Researchers Looking into How Drones Can Predict Wildfire Spread
Jan 21 2019 // A University of Missouri researcher is teaming up with scholars in Kansas and Georgia to develop drone technology to monitor and potentially predict the spread of wildfires. The $1.2 million research project that began...
California Wildfires, Hurricane Michael Top List of 2018’s Costliest Natural Disasters: Munich Re
Jan 21 2019 // The costliest natural catastrophes occurred in the United States in 2018 with one of California’s devastating wildfires and Hurricane Michael topping the list, according to Munich Re. A report from Munich Re on last...
Industry Trends to Exploit for 2019
Jan 21 2019 // It is time to take out our crystal ball and plan for 2019 and how our insurance industry will be impacted by the trends around us. Those that consider these changes, and plan ahead, will usually be in a better position...
Wildfires, Dynamex Dominate California Wholesaler Conference
Jan 21 2019 // Wildfires and the Dynamex decision dominated discussions at an insurance wholesaler conference in early January. The California Wholesaler Association conference in La Jolla, Calif., from Jan. 6 to Jan. 8 featured numerous...
For New Governors, Natural Disasters Will Be Necessary Priority
Jan 21 2019 // Even Governors Skeptical of Climate Change Can’t Avoid Need to Plan for Future Storms, Fires Governors have a range of priorities they want to tackle in the coming year, from tax reform to education. Yet, one topic...
PG&E Says It Won’t Commit to Paying Settlements With 2015 California Fire Victims
Jan 18 2019 // PG&E Corp. is so cash-starved that it won’t commit to paying settlements reached with people who lost their homes in a 2015 wildfire caused by a tree falling on a power line. The disclosure by a lawyer for the...
PG&E Restructuring Highlights California’s Inverse Condemnation Rule
Jan 15 2019 // PG&E Corp.’s chances of emerging from bankruptcy proceedings hinge in part on an arcane California legal rule that threatens to keep the utility owner perpetually on the hook for liabilities from catastrophic...
Hedge Fund Baupost Reported to Hold $1 Billion in PG&E Insurance Claims
Jan 14 2019 // Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group has been the poster child of the hedge fund industry’s ill-timed stock-market bets on the troubled utility PG&E Corp., which announced plans for bankruptcy. It turns out,...
‘Goat Fund Me’ Campaign Launched by California Town to Prevent Wildfires
Jan 14 2019 // The threat of catastrophic wildfires has driven a California town to launch a “Goat Fund Me” campaign to bring herds of goats to city-owned land to help clear brush. Nevada City in the Sierra Nevada began the...
PG&E Bankruptcy Looms With $30B in Potential Liabilities from California Wildfires; CEO to Exit
Jan 14 2019 // PG&E Corp. said it will file for bankruptcy in California after the cost of wildfires left it with potential liabilities of $30 billion or more, gutting its share price and prompting the departure of its chief...
Trump, California in Battle Over Wildfire Relief Funds
Jan 11 2019 // President Donald Trump threatened this week to withhold money to help California cope with wildfires after Gov. Gavin Newsom asked him to double the federal investment in forest management. Trump again suggested poor...
