Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Northern California Wildfires: Insurance Industry Ready to Assist With ‘Massive’ Recovery
Oct 20 2017 // Rebuilding the Northern California areas devastated by wildfire will be a long-term effort, and insurers say they will be there to help their affected policyholders get back on their feet. Tens of thousands of evacuees...
Early Data Shows Insured Losses from California Wildfires Already at $1B and Growing
Oct 19 2017 // Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today released preliminary data provided by eight California insurers processing claims for tens of thousands of policyholders that shows $1.045 billion in losses to commercial and...
California’s Chief Utility Regulator Says We May Never Know If PG&E Caused Fires
Oct 19 2017 // California’s chief utility regulator said the state may never determine whether PG&E Corp.’s electrical equipment played a role in igniting the deadly blazes near San Francisco earlier this month. The...
Collaborative Project Saved Homes in Oregon from Fires. Can It Be Duplicated?
Oct 17 2017 // Lightning started a forest fire one August afternoon near Sisters, an Oregon tourist town, and it was spreading fast. Residents in outlying areas evacuated as flames marched toward their homes. Just a few months earlier,...
All Wildfire Damage to California Wineries May Not be Covered by Insurance
Oct 17 2017 // Wineries damaged by wildfires tearing through Northern California are starting insurance claims, and at least some of the smaller vintners are likely to find limits in their policies mean payouts fall short of rebuilding...
California Wildfires Threaten Significant Losses for P/C Insurers, Moody’s Says
Oct 16 2017 // Moody’s released a report on Monday assessing the impact of the wildfires in California on property/casualty insurers. “Based on history and the number of structures damaged, insured losses will run into the...
PG&E’s Possible Liability in California Wildfires Targeted by Investigators
Oct 16 2017 // PG&E Corp. at the end of last week capped its worst week in nine years on speculation that downed power lines may have played a role in deadly wildfires raging across California. And the rout is far from over. After...
California Commissioner Asks Insurers to Expedite Claims to Aid Wildfire Victims
Oct 15 2017 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones over the weekend issued a notice to insurers asking them to agree to expedited claims handling procedures for wildfire damage claims to help fire victims more quickly. Several...
House Approves $36.5B Disaster Aid with Puerto Rico, Wildfires, Flood Insurance Funds
Oct 12 2017 // The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved $36.5 billion in emergency relief for hurricane-hit Puerto Rico and other areas that have suffered recent disasters. In addition to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico,...
Losses from California Wildfires Could Reach up to $6 Billion, Experts Say
Oct 12 2017 // This story has been updated with the latest estimates on fire losses. The wildfires raging in California are shaping up to become an infamous if not historic event. The fires have destroyed 3,500 structures and counting,...
Drought-Ending Rain Built up Fuel to Feed Deadly California Fires
Oct 12 2017 // There’s a dark side to the torrent of precipitation that ended California’s long drought earlier this year: Rain and snow pumped life back into bushes, shrubs and grasses and created ideal fuel for...
California Fires Pose Grave Risk to Marijuana Growers
Oct 12 2017 // For many businesses in northern California, it will take years to rebuild from the wildfires that have decimated the region. For many legal cannabis growers, the destruction could be insurmountable. At least six marijuana...
$36.5 Billion House Disaster Aid Bill Includes Funds for Puerto Rico, Wildfires, Flood Insurance
Oct 12 2017 // House lawmakers unveiled a bill Tuesday night that would provide $36.5 billion in emergency funding for hurricane and wildfire relief requested by the Trump administration. With Congress under pressure to provide urgent...
Cal Fire: California Wildfires Have Destroyed 3,500 Structures, Killed 17
Oct 11 2017 // Cal Fire is reporting that 17 people are confirmed to have died in the wildfires throughout the state this week and that at least 3,500 homes and commercial structures have been destroyed by the fast-moving...
California’s $58B Wine Industry Hit by Wildfires
Oct 11 2017 // The fires ravaging Northern California stand to leave the area’s renowned wine industry with damage that will be felt long after the final flames burn out. At least four Napa Valley vineyards have been destroyed or...
California Wildfires Are a ‘Larger Scale Disaster’
Oct 10 2017 // Active wildfires in California have burned an estimated 1,500 homes and commercial structures, scorched more than 115,000 acres and reportedly killed 15 people. Insurers and others who access damage are only beginning to...
Wildfires Ravage California’s Iconic Wine Country Region
Oct 10 2017 // Wildfires that tore through northern California’s iconic wine-growing regions have prompted evacuations of more than 20,000 people, killed 11 and damaged some of the most valuable vineyards and wineries in the...
Northern California Wildfires Burn Wine Country Homes, Force Evacuations
Oct 9 2017 // Firefighters battled roughly 10 wind-whipped fires across Northern California’s wine country early Monday, triggering a rush by residents to flee the area. Mandatory evacuations were ordered after blazes broke out...
Progress Made on California Central Coast Wildfires
Oct 2 2017 // Firefighters made progress on trio of wildfires on California’s Central Coast. Santa Barbara County fire spokesman Mike Eliason said that a marine layer of cooler, wetter air helped fire crews contain 60 percent of...
Cost of Fighting Montana Wildfires Approach $400M
Oct 2 2017 // The cost of fighting wildfires in Montana is approaching $400 million at the tail end of the state’s worst wildfire season in two decades. To date, wildfires have burned almost 1,900 square miles, slightly more than...
