Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Wildfires in Texas’ Bastrop County Destroy More than 1,500 Homes
Sep 19 2011 // The number of homes destroyed by wildfires in a single Texas county had risen to 1,554 as of Sept. 11, 2011. The massive Bastrop County Complex fire was one of a rash of wildfires that broke out across drought-stricken...
Calmer Winds to Slow Growth of Minnesota Wildfire
Sep 15 2011 // Calmer winds were expected to slow the growth of a huge wildfire that has engulfed woodland in northeastern Minnesota and blanketed cities hundreds of miles away with a smoky haze, the U.S. Forest Service said. The blaze...
Fire-weary Texas Residents Looking to Insurance
Sep 15 2011 // Brandon Bunker knew there would be nothing left. He knew from videos he had seen online that the home he and his wife shared with his father was a total loss and that his Jeep Grand Cherokee had been reduced to a...
Insured Losses from Texas Wildfires Could Reach $250 Million
Sep 14 2011 // An industry group says insured losses from a week of Texas wildfires could reach $250 million. The Insurance Council of Texas offered the estimate for the more than 180 wildfires reported statewide since Labor Day...
Nearly 2,000 Homes Destroyed in Texas Since Labor Day Weekend
Sep 13 2011 // The Texas Forest Service reports that an estimated 1,939 homes have been destroyed in the state by wildfires since the Labor Day weekend. The insured losses from the Bastrop County Complex fires alone could reach $150...
Southern California Wildfires Prompt Evacuations
Sep 12 2011 // Several structures are being threatened by one of more than 50 wildfires in the Southern California area of Kern County. The fires, which were sparked by lightning strikes, are segretated in three main areas of Kern,...
President Obama Signs Disaster Aid for Texas Wildfires
Sep 12 2011 // President Barack Obama has signed a federal disaster declaration for Texas in the wake of wildfires in the state. The move allows federal funding to be made available to individuals in Bastrop County in the central part of...
String of Wildfires Takes Toll on Texas Firefighters
Sep 12 2011 // The flames of the massive wildfire that had swallowed nearly 1,400 homes in Central Texas had been tamed, but Webster Fire Chief Patrick Shipp and his crew — veterans of a fire season pushing his team to the limit —...
Texas Wildfires Evacuees Anxious to Return Home
Sep 11 2011 // After spending nearly a week wondering whether his home had been destroyed in massive wildfires sweeping across Central Texas, George Gaydos got the news Sept. 10: His house had burned down in the blaze. But Gaydos — who...
Texas Fires Kill 4, Destroy More Than 1,600 Homes
Sep 8 2011 // One of the most devastating wildfire outbreaks in Texas history has left more than 1,600 homes in ruins and stretched the state’s firefighting ranks to the limit, confronting Gov. Rick Perry with a major disaster at...
Wildfires Burn Across Texas; Weekend Losses Expected to Top $100M
Sep 6 2011 // While Tropical Storm Lee drenched Southeast Louisiana with up to 15 inches of rain over the weekend, the low pressure system whipped up strong northwesterly winds across Texas that are blamed for the rapid spread of...
Oregon Wildfires Threaten Homes
Aug 30 2011 // Weather conditions improved for firefighters trying to contain a 45,000-acre grass fire in central Oregon, after red flag warnings expired. A dispatcher at the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center in Prineville said...
‘Friday Night Lights’ Star Featured in PSAs Supporting Texas Firefighters
Aug 25 2011 // Actor Kyle Chandler has taped public service announcements for Texas volunteer fire departments needing money after an intense year of wildfires. Chandler, who plays a West Texas football coach in the television series...
40 Homes Destroyed in Deadly Okla. Wildfire
Aug 14 2011 // Residents in Pawnee County, Okla. have started to sift through the ashes following a wildfire that destroyed nearly 40 homes and may have done up to $20 million worth of damage, according to official estimates. Dozens of...
Oklahoma Wildfire Destroyed 40 Buildings
Aug 11 2011 // The weekend wildfire that swept through a rural swath of Pawnee County, damaging or destroying at least 40 structures and charring thousands of acres, was brought under control Tuesday afternoon but not before it did some...
Officials Warn of Arkansas Forest Fire Danger
Aug 8 2011 // The Arkansas Forestry Commission said it suppressed at least 18 wildfires so far this weekend. A spokesman says crews are still trying to contain another 12 wildfires across the state. Extreme wildfire conditions have been...
Forestry Service Says Oklahoma Could Face Fire Crisis
Aug 2 2011 // Heat and drought could lead to a wildfire crisis in Oklahoma for the rest of the summer, a state forestry official said. Forester George Geissler said that both rangeland in western Oklahoma and the wooded hills of eastern...
Aon Benfield Cat Recap Highlights China Floods; Quakes, Wildfires
Jul 7 2011 // Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon Corp., has released the latest edition of its Monthly Cat Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that occurred worldwide during...
With Wildfires Contained, Arizona Shifts to Thwarting Summer Floods
Jul 7 2011 // The biggest forest fire in Arizona history is all but contained, and authorities are shifting their focus to preventing massive flood damage as summer storms begin to hit. The specialized firefighting management teams that...
North Carolina Wildfire Spreads; Homeowners Evacuate
Jul 6 2011 // Ten homes have been evacuated and three destroyed by a wildfire in Bladen County that has nearly doubled in size over the past three days, fire officials said Tuesday. State Forest Service spokesman Chris Meggs said a...
