Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Southern California Fires Prompt Evacuations of Thousands from Homes
Dec 6 2017 // Ferocious Santa Ana winds raking Southern California whipped explosive wildfires Tuesday, prompting evacuation orders for thousands of homes. The biggest blaze broke out Monday in Ventura County and grew wildly to more...
RenaissanceRe: $90M Estimated Net Negative Impact from California Wildfires
Dec 6 2017 // RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. said it estimates that losses from the October 2017 California Wildfires will have a net negative impact of $90 million on its fourth quarter 2017 results of operations. The October 2017...
Another California Utility Loses Billions in Value as Wildfire Rages
Dec 6 2017 // Once again, thousands are fleeing a wildfire in California. And, once again, the worry on Wall Street is that a major electric utility might end up on the hook for the damages. Shares of Edison International plunged the...
La Nina Adds to Wildfire Threat in South Central, Plains States
Dec 4 2017 // Conditions are ripe for winter wildfires from the mid-South through the Great Plains thanks to a combination of weather factors, including the climate phenomenon known as La Nina, that have left a lot of dry growth. In...
California Seeking $4.4B in Federal Aid for Wildfires
Dec 4 2017 // California’s 53 U.S. House members are requesting $4.4 billion in federal aid to help the state recover from its deadliest wildfires ever. That’s down sharply from the $7.4 billion originally sought by Gov....
California Fires Will Add to 2017 Insurer Catastrophe Losses, Fitch Says
Dec 4 2017 // No U.S. reinsurance companies in Fitch Rating’s rated universe are expected to be downgraded as a result of losses from the California wildfires alone, but for a number of companies the impact of wildfire losses adds...
Drone Prompts Diversion of Arkansas Wildfire Surveillance Plane
Dec 1 2017 // Forestry officials diverted a surveillance plane from its assigned path because a drone hovered above a northern Arkansas wildfire, prompting them to caution people that airborne efforts to take unique photographs endanger...
Fallout for PG&E from California Wildfire Could Have Been Limited by Vote
Dec 1 2017 // California regulators rejected a request by a San Diego utility to bill customers for a decade-old wildfire, even as they made clear their decision shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a precedent for last month’s...
Woman Staying in Hotel During Tennessee Wildfires Claims PTSD in Lawsuit
Dec 1 2017 // A Tennessee woman who checked in to a hotel as deadly wildfires raged nearby says in a lawsuit that she was terrified she would die in the hotel and is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because of the...
Chubb Expects $320 Million in Q4 Catastrophe Losses Including California Wildfires
Nov 30 2017 // Chubb Limited reported a preliminary loss estimate for the fourth quarter from natural catastrophes, including the California wildfires, of approximately $320 million pre-tax, or $249 million after tax. Chubb said its...
Wildfire Risk High Remains in Arkansas
Nov 29 2017 // State forestry officials say the risk for wildfires remains high throughout Arkansas as dry conditions persist. The Arkansas Forestry Commission says firefighters have suppressed more than 100 wildfires since Thanksgiving....
California Policyholders Have 24 Months to Collect Wildfire Insurance Money
Nov 22 2017 // California’s insurance commissioner says homeowners who lost their homes in last month’s wildfires in Northern California have up to 24 months to collect insurance payments. Dave Jones said this week some...
California Fires Will Add to 2017 Insurer Catastrophe Losses, Fitch Says
Nov 20 2017 // No U.S. reinsurance companies in Fitch Rating’s rated universe are expected to be downgraded as a result of losses from the California wildfires alone, but for a number of companies the impact of wildfire losses adds...
Disaster Planning for Agencies: Minding Your Business
Nov 20 2017 // Northern California and specifically Sonoma and Napa Counties have experienced the worst wildfires in the history of California. Most of these fires began around Oct. 8, 2017, during night with extremely high winds, that...
Grapes of Wrath: Insurance Fallout from the Wine Country Wildfires
Nov 20 2017 // Now that this October’s wine country fires have been contained, the ravaged San Francisco Bay area countryside can begin the rebuilding process. The effects of the wildfires, however, will be further reaching than...
Someone Else’s Wires May Have Started California Wildfires, PG&E Says
Nov 20 2017 // The deadliest of last month’s wildfires in California’s wine country may have been started by electrical equipment not owned or installed by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the utility said in a court filing...
Modeler: Insured Losses for California Wildfires Could Reach $10.5B
Nov 16 2017 // Loss estimates for the October California wildfire siege could reach up to $10.5 billion, according to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide. Boston, Mass.-based AIR on Thursday updated its loss estimates for the recent...
California Utility Blamed in 3 Suits for Deadly Wildfires
Nov 16 2017 // Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was blamed in three lawsuits filed this week for negligence in the wildfires that killed more than 40 people and destroyed over 8,000 homes in Northern California last month. The lawsuits...
Insurers Had Crews Working in Heart of California Wildfires to Prevent Loss
Nov 15 2017 // “It was all hands on deck.” That apt description of the reaction to the deadly outbreak of wildfires that ravaged California in October was from Stephen Poux, global head of risk management and loss prevention...
Wineries Looking to Make Up Losses Following California Wildfires
Nov 15 2017 // A month after deadly wildfires swept through California’s famed wine country, hot-air balloons are floating again over Napa Valley vineyards splashed with fall colors. On the heels of the disaster, a new winery is...
