Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
LA Wildfires by the Numbers: Insured Losses, Total Losses, Ratings, Rates
Jan 24 2025 // The impact of the historic Los Angeles-area wildfires is being broadly examined and continually refined, with updates almost daily on insured losses, total economic losses and damages, credit ratings—and lately worrying...
Insurance Commissioner Orders Advance Payments on Claims for LA Wildfire Survivors
Jan 23 2025 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is asking all California insurance companies to provide advance payments on claims for Los Angeles wildfire survivors. Lara’s order is designed to help speed the...
Moody’s Expects LA Wildfires to Increase Property Insurance Costs Across State
Jan 23 2025 // Moody’s Ratings said in a report on Thursday that it expects the Los Angeles wildfires to increase property insurance costs across California. According to Moody’s, the state’s already noticeable...
KCC Estimates Losses From Palisades and Eaton Wildfires to Be Near $28B
Jan 23 2025 // Catastrophe modeler KCC said insured loss from privately insured and California FAIR plan policies to residential, commercial and industrial properties, and autos from the Palisades and Eaton Fires will be close to $28...
New Wildfires Erupt in California, Forcing Thousands to Evacuate
Jan 23 2025 // Two new wildfires that erupted in Southern California are spreading quickly over dry hillsides and forcing evacuations, stoking new fears in a region that’s been devastated by recent deadly blazes. The Hughes Fire,...
Insurtechs’ Approach to Wildfire Insurance: Part III – Faura
Jan 23 2025 // While the Los Angeles wildfires inch closer toward containment, estimates of insured losses continue to creep higher. CoreLogic said the industry price tag of the Palisades and Eaton fires could land between $35 billion...
Ash Left Behind by LA Wildfires Might Be Toxic, Experts Warn
Jan 23 2025 // Toni Boucher threw up the first time she saw the charred remains of her home and neighborhood after this month’s deadly Los Angeles-area wildfires. Now she wonders if it’s worth it to go back to sift through...
Wildfire-Risk Models Are Struggling to Predict LA-Style Fires
Jan 22 2025 // Among natural disasters, wildfires are the great unknown. Even the most-sophisticated scientific models fail to capture all the risk factors or properly account for the increasing impact of climate change. It’s a...
Insurtechs’ Approach to Wildfire Insurance: Part II – Kettle
Jan 22 2025 // While the Los Angeles wildfires inch closer toward containment, estimates of insured losses continue to creep higher. CoreLogic said the industry price tag of the Palisades and Eaton fires could land between $35 billion...
Growing Concerns About Wildfires in Carolina Thanks to Kindling Left by Helene
Jan 22 2025 // As southern California continues to suffer from wildfires, officials in another part of the country fear their area could be next – thanks to tons of dry wood left over from Hurricane Helene’s wind and...
Insurtechs’ Approach to Wildfire Insurance: Part I – Delos
Jan 21 2025 // While the Los Angeles wildfires inch closer toward containment, estimates of insured losses continue to creep higher. CoreLogic said the industry price tag of the Palisades and Eaton fires could land between $35 billion...
Los Angeles Pushes to Rebuild Homes Fast, Despite Wildfire Danger
Jan 17 2025 // California politicians are rushing to make it easier for residents to rebuild their homes incinerated in the Los Angeles firestorms. That means waiving green construction mandates designed to combat climate change —...
Smoke, Coverage Issues Cloud Wildfire Forecast: $35-$45B Losses Insured
Jan 17 2025 // CoreLogic announced a preliminary range of insured losses for the Eaton and Palisades Fires in Los Angeles of $35 billion to $45 billion, but there are a lot of factors that could change the numbers. “We don’t...
Actuary Group Forecasts Climate Change to Have Massive GDP Hit Without Policy Action
Jan 17 2025 // Here’s stark warning in a new report from a group of actuaries: the global economy could face a 50% loss in GDP between 2070 and 2090. That is if immediate policy actions on risks posed by climate change are not...
Moody’s Says LA Fire May Pose Risk to Southern California Edison
Jan 16 2025 // The Eaton Fire in central Los Angeles County poses a potential credit risk to power provider Southern California Edison, which operates electrical lines in the area where the destructive blaze first started, Moody’s...
Will California’s FAIR Plan Have Enough Cash for Its Wildfire Claims?
Jan 16 2025 // There has been some question about whether California’s insurer of last resort – the FAIR Plan – has enough cash on hand to pay for its share of wildfire claims. As surplus is inadequate and reinsurance has a...
A Los Angeles Actuary on Lessons From the Palisades Fire
Jan 16 2025 // I watched as the skies over my home in Los Angeles turned an apocalyptic orange on January 7, 2025, as wildfires raged across the state. Among the most devastating, the Palisades Fire consumed thousands of acres, leaving a...
Fire-Ravaged LA to See Respite But Danger ‘Not Yet Passed’
Jan 16 2025 // The dry, dangerous winds that have kept fire-scarred Los Angeles on edge for days are finally forecast to end — but a lack of rain and another round of winds forecast next week has officials worried. “Things are...
Too High? Too Low? BMS Analyzes Early Wildfire Insured Loss Estimates
Jan 16 2025 // Industry analysts’ early estimates of insurance industry losses for the January 2025 California wildfires have already grown from $8 billion to $40 billion-plus—with many noting that it’s too early for...
Economists Say Los Angeles Fire to Have Limited National Economic Impact
Jan 16 2025 // Devastating fires in the Los Angeles area are likely to put modest pressure on the U.S. national economy in the near term but are unlikely to derail strong forward momentum, economists say. Forecasters reckon the...
